2013 lifestyles profile
DESCRIPTION
lifestyles profile 2013TRANSCRIPT
LifestylesThe Daily Iberian’s annual salute to people who liveand work in the Teche Area
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is standing with a wooden crossbar he installed on the anchor. LeBlanc said he wanted to share the story of the anchor and donate it to the Port of Delcambre to have a permanent home at the marina.
“Where it’s at, it’s about a block from the marina, but I thought maybe it would be a little tourist draw,” he said. “Maybe we could get a few people to come and look at it.”
Port of Delcambre Direc-tor Wendell Verret said he and other residents of Delcambre always had an interest in the anchor.
“When he said he would donate it to the marina, it was a very proud moment for us,” Verret said. “It made those of us on the
port and the steering com-mittee feel that our efforts are appreciated and that we are on the right track.”
LeBlanc said he wants to see a plaque in place explaining the history of the anchor before he will deliver it to the marina.
The marina is being landscaped, Verret said, and one section of the landscaping will feature the anchor and a plaque. He said the port is inves-tigating getting a his-toric monument plaque through state agencies.
“Hopefully, we can set a date for a dedication ceremony in this spring. We are defi nitely ready to move as quickly as pos-sible,” said Verret.
The port has incorpo-rated the anchor into its marina logo, Verret said.
He said he hopes to weave the story of the anchor into the port’s marketing literature and feature it in the decor of the ma-rina building and other planned marina facilities.
“Hopefully, we can begin to collect other historic artifacts and stories about Delcambre to give the marina a sense of place,” he said.
LeBlanc said he is simply pleased to be able to donate the anchor to the port because it will have a per-manent home and it will be able to tell a story about the history of his town.
“The marina is going to be really nice when it’s fi nished. I’m just glad to be able to donate some-thing that might bring a few tourists to our little town,” he said.
BY HOPE RURIK
THE DAILY IBERIAN
New Iberia pilots have different rea-sons for getting in
the air, but several started out the same way: a life-long fascination for fl ying.
Bill Miller, 70, grew up along the Gulf in Aransas Pass, Texas, watching pilots hover in their sea planes over the beach on the look out for red fi sh be-fore landing up the shore line to cast directly from their planes. Miller said he always wanted to be in that cockpit. He started taking fl ying lessons in 1961, but Miller said he couldn’t afford to continue fl ying after college.
Don Broussard, 57, said from an early age he want-ed to fl y. He found his way to the air by starting out as an aircraft mechanic.
Broussard said he sought out a school in Oklahoma to get the proper training be-fore returning to Louisiana.
Roland Denison, 71, start-ed fl ying in 1968. He said his pastime as a boy was building model airplanes, saying he was always inter-ested. Denison also stopped fl ying after college.
Richard Ferrell, 81, was a crew member on an aircraft carrier during the Korean War. After college, Ferrell became a commercial pilot.
Richard “Dick” E. Spears, 72, said one of the fi rst toys he ever got was a 10-cent airplane. After high school, Spears enlisted in the Navy.
The fi rst time he was ever in a plane was his fl ight to boot camp in California.
Stop by Pelican Aviation and you’re likely to run into at least one of these
pilots. It doesn’t take long to realize that even though they all share a love of aviation, each one appreci-ates fl ying a bit differently.
Spears grew up on a cotton farm in Arkansas and found himself in New Iberia when the airport was still a Naval base.
When he took his fi rst fl ight in a Naval trainer Spears said something clicked.
“It was like, ‘This is home,’” he said.
Spears said he was lucky to always have access to planes for business, fi rst for other companies and then his own.
In 1976, Spears and former University of Southwestern
Louisiana classmate John Fallis, of Lafay-ette, started collect-ing and rebuilding planes for recreation.
Their fi rst plane cost $4,200.
The two have a hangar on the sea-way at the Acadiana Regional Airport, and over the years, the two have owned
15 to 20 planes, many of which Spears said were either rebuilt or built from scratch.
“My life revolves around aviation,” Spears said. “It’s affected my whole life and probably defi nes who I am more than anything else.”
Spears said depending on the weather, he might fl ight out once or twice a week.
Broussard is a frequent fl yer as well but for differ-ent reasons.
Broussard works for a shared ownership company that fl ies out share owners throughout the world.
“It’s still enjoyable, but it can be challenging and de-manding,” Broussard said.
He said he still fl ies for
his own interest and trans-portation and is building a plane now for the same purpose.
Denison started fl ying again in 1985. Now he’s the area Experimental AircraftAssociation president. He said fl ying is just some-thing he enjoys.
“Some people boat, some people fi sh,” he said. “I fl y.”
Miller held a similar be-lief. “It’s just like fi shing or playing golf,” he said. “It’s a pastime you like to do.”
But just like some people fi sh to let the fi sh go, and others fi sh to eat, Miller said people fl y for different reasons.
Miller is in the process of getting paperwork in order to fl y solo again after a heart attack 10 years ago, which has prevented him from fl ying alone.
Spears said for a lot of commercial or professionalpilots look at fl ying as a job. He said of the 13 peoplewho graduated with him from the Navy, only he and one other are still fl ying.
“There are only a few of us addicts,” he said.
The hoodless front of Laporte’s rat rod is embel-lished with a couple of large rubber rats, an alligator head and large mounted tortoise shell.
An old wooden park bench is what both driver and passenger must sit on in the two-seater vehicle. The gas peddle is a welded wrench and the truck bed is lined with planks of ragged-edged cypress wood. To add to the vehicle’s curi-ously macabre and showy, over-the-top appearance, the car even shoots fl ames as its engine bellows.
Though original rat rods were just considered unfi nished garage projects, Laporte said, building one now can be more costly than restoring more pristine clas-sic car.
But building a rat rod is a heck of a lot more fun, he added.
“Anything you can imag-ine is put of these cars,” he said. “You’ve got to have the imagination. You don’t use nut and bolts. You use a welding machine.”
Though the rusted out vehicles look like heaps too dangerous too drive, Laporte said each rat rod must be “street legal” com-plete working lights, breaks.
“Otherwise we can’t put license plates on ‘em,” he said.
Fellow classic car collec-tor and car club member Tommy Landry is who introduced him to rat rods, Laporte said.
Landry owns a few of his own custom-built rat rods, including a 1948 Buick Road Master hearse that operates with a transmis-sion taken from an old church bus, and a 1929 Ford complete with welded tractor seats, beer tap handle for a shift, and beer can for its oil fl ow.
While classic and antique show cars have their own appeal, Landry said rat rods are simply pure fun.
The psychobilly rods
have carved their niche into the gearhead culture and have a loyal fan base of all ages.
In March, Landry said his rat rods will head to Gulfport, Miss., for the Atomic Blast car show where the vehicles will join hundreds of other mid-century hot rods and will participate in some down-and-dirty competition.
“There will be rat rod fi re trucks, burnouts and drags. That’s what it’s all about. No shiny cars.” Landry said. “They’ll have contests where they’ll jump in ‘em and spin the wheels and whoever blows a tire wins.”
“It’s about doughnuts, burning out and just about the raggediest damn car you can make and you can still drive it.”
Asked what makes a vehicle a certifi ed rat rod, Penny Laporte smiled and simply replied “rust.”
“You clean these things with WD40. That’s how you keep them shiny,” she said with a laugh.
Laporte said there are approximately 13 to 15 rat rod owners from the Teche Area to Houma with a few in the Bayou Country Cruisers Car Club.
On March 23, the club will take part in the Brit-tany’s Project Car Show at the former Oaklawn Sugar Mill site in Frank-lin. The event is a fund-raiser for Brittany’s Proj-ect, which aims to build recreation center for those living with disabili-ties and their families.
“That’s why we do all this. We like doing these things for charity,” Sammy Laporte said.
While their “shiny cars” will be present, the rat rods are likely again steal the show.
“They all come to see the rat rods. The people will go for the rat rods be-fore they go for the shiny cars or the Model A’s,” he said. “This is the up and coming thing right now.”
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Page 6 / Thursday, February 21, 2013 / The Daily Iberian lifestylesProfi le 2013 / Celebrating Our Community
LAPORTES: No shineFROM PAGE 5
Those magnificent men in their ...
ADDITION: Might attract touristsFROM PAGE 1
From left, Roland Denison, Bill Miller and Richard Ferrell stand just outside Pelican
Aviation near a prop plane Denison builtand fl ies out of Acadiana Regional Airport.
HOPE RURIK / THE DAILY IBERIANRichard E. Spears relaxes by his plane inside his hangar at ARA.
HOPE RURIK / THE DAILY IBERIAN
... fl ying machines, which they fl y with a passion. Roland Denison, Bill Miller, Richard Ferrell and Richard E. Spears are among the aviators in the area.
lifestylesa look at some of what makes the teche area unique
a special section of The Daily Iberian / Thursday, February 21, 2013
Profi le 2013
Celebrating Our Community
Hit those pins ... strike!People of all ages from all walks of life step up close to the foul line, bowling ball in hand, start their approach and de-liver a roll they hope ends in a strike. The lanes at Bayou Pins stay full of avid bowlers.
INSIDE
• Page 2
BIG addition to collectionBY SARAH BLANCHARD
THE DAILY IBERIAN
DELCAMBRE — Edwin LeBlanc collects boats, boat engines and any-thing marine related, but his most cherished
possession is a 2,500-pound, 13-foot an-chor that is more than 250 years old.
LeBlanc said he believes oak trees are the only things in Iberia Parish that are older than the anchor.
Delcambre shrimper Sydney Schexnayder discovered the an-chor in the late 1950s or early 1960s, LeBlanc said. He said he has been intrigued by the anchor since he was a child growing up along the water-front in Delcambre.
The anchor, which has been displayed in front of LeBlanc’s boat shop since 2005, dates back to the 1740s from the Spanish ship El Nuevo Constante. The ship traveled from Spain to Veracruz to Cadiz by way of Havana when a hurricane drove the ship aground near the Louisiana coast in September 1766.
The ship was not a treasure ship, LeBlanc said, instead it was a com-mercial vessel used to transport mercury. He said liquid mercury was used to extract silver from silver ore.
The majority of the ship is still intact 12 feet below the mud line, LeBlanc said. When the ship wrecked it was approximately 300 feet from the coast, he said, but now because the coast has eroded, it is located a couple of miles offshore.
LeBlanc said the anchor was one of the largest on the boat. He said there was another anchor the same size, but it has not been discovered.
He said the other anchors that were found had an 8-foot shaft.
The anchor was displayed in front of a bar in Delcambre for nearly 30 years until the bar was demolished in the late 1980s. Erath resident E.J. LeBlanc, no relation to Edwin LeBlanc, saved the anchor from the rubble and displayed it at the boat shop he owned with his two sons.
LeBlanc said he wanted to buy
the anchor, but E.J. refused to sell it because he was afraid LeBlanc would resell the anchor to make money.
His interest in the anchor in-creased, he said, after a visit to Mys-tic, Conn., a historic whaling village that featured two prominent anchors.
“I thought that old anchor was go-ing to go to the junk pile, and I knew where it was,” he said.
After E.J. and one of his sons died,
his other son, Bubba, had a change of heart about the anchor and made a deal with LeBlanc for the anchor.
“He said, ‘Give me $100 for the an-chor and a promise you’ll never sell it to make money, plus a handshake.’ ”
The anchor has been displayed at his boat shop since he bought it, LeB-lanc said. The wrought iron anchor
SEE ADDITION, PAGE 6
His big history projectNew Iberian Pat Onellion has researched the scores and stats for New Iberia High football games dating back to the early 1900s.
A Delcambre man believes the only thing older than an anchor in the town are the oak trees ...
• Page 4
Globe-trotting hoopsterLarry Hensgens, a local banker who is well-known for his softball skills, has been playing on a 50-and-over basketball team that consistently wins its games in England.
• Page 3
SARAH BLANCHARD / THE DAILY IBERIANA huge wrought iron anchor, shown at Edwin LeBlanc’s boat shop, is traced back to the El Nuevo Constante of 1766.
SARAH BLANCHARD / THE DAILY IBERIANEdwin LeBlanc of Delcambre stands behind a wrought iron anchor that was found in the late 1950s or early 1960s by Sydney Schexnayder, a Delcambre shrimper. It wound up in Erath, where a family eventually sold it to LeBlanc, who plans to donate it to a marina at the Port of Delcambre.
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BY JESSICA GOFF
THE DAILY IBERIAN
On any given night of the week, the lanes at Bayou
Pins are packed with generations of bowlers who range from seasoned pros to novices perfecting their form or just having a good time.
Bayou Pins employee and longtime bowler Linda Reaux said she’s met faithful local bowl-ers of all walks of life through the decades who come for the sport as well as to socialize.
“I started when I was 15. I would bowl in the junior league and all that. But I think it’s more about friends,” she said. “Instead of going to a bar and worrying all about that, this is a place where all your friends can get to-gether and you’ll see them maybe one night and then you won’t see them the rest of the week. And then we also have some bowl-ers that bowl like three nights a week.”
New Iberia resident and Iberia Parish School Board member Elvin Pra-dia said he’s been bowling for more than 40 years. For him, bowling is good exercise and provides plenty of atmosphere for camaraderie.
And there’s no use try-ing to blame your perfor-mance on the lighthearted heckling from fellow league mates, he added.
“It’s just fun because it’s still an individual game so you can’t blame anybody but yourself when you mess up,” he said with a laugh. “We used bowl here two nights a week and then we’d go to Lafayette two nights a week. Then open bowling on Sundays. Sometimes we’d go at 1 p.m. and then stay there until 9 or 10 p.m. at night.”Bayou Pins’ newest own-ers, Greg and Ginger Melancon took over the business last summer. Son Greg Melancon Jr. said the alley was originally lo-cated off of Charles Street
and had been in operation since the 1960s.He said the alley stays busy, but its stream of competitive costumers could eventually wane.
“The problem nowadays is our clientele is older, because younger people just aren’t as interested in the sport as they used to be,” he said.
But for Rebecca Fich-ter, 18, bowling is a sport she’s loved since she was 5 years old, she said.
“The feeling of mak-ing a strike is just, it’s
overwhelming,” the South Louisiana Community College student said be-tween her turns to bowl on a Wednesday league night. “To see at least a
200 on you’re score, it’s pretty great.
She’s pretty good, she said, but it took practice. Her advice: “Make sure to keep your hand straight.”
But because it is an individual sport, Reaux said it’s important to develop your own style and technique that works for you.
“Don’t come out and try to bowl like everyone else. Do your own thing,” she said.
“There are some ladies that come in and bowl beautifully. But me bowl like that? I’d hurt myself !”she said with a laugh.
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Page 2 / Thursday, February 21, 2013 / The Daily Iberian lifestylesProfi le 2013 / Celebrating Our Community
INDEX■
Shooting hoops across the big pondBank of cer Larry Hensgens rings up points as a member of a basketball team that wins champion-ships in England.
— PAGE 3
Getting a handle on amateur radioTeche Area residents Nathan Stelly and Mel Simon are avid ham radio operators who enjoy the old form of communication.
— PAGE 4
Glory days of the gridiron recordedPat Onellion of New Iberia started looking up scores of New Iberia High football games from years ago. The hobby grew into a passion to chronicle stats and scores.
— PAGE 4
These ‘rat rods’ are works of artClassic car owner Sammy LaPorte enjoys half- nished projects in the garage ... those rust-clad, stripped-down mid-century model cars.
— PAGE 5
Bowlers roll on from all
walks of life
LEE BALL / THE DAILY IBERIANPins fl y regularly, like after this delivery, above, at Bayou Pins bowling alley in New Iberia.
Bayou Pins, a local alley, fills lanes with enthusiasts
LEE BALL / THE DAILY IBERIANWhether they are seasoned veterans are novices facing the pins for the fi rst time, bowlers aim for high pin count.
‘Don’t come out and try to bowl like everyone
else. Do your own thing.’
Linda Reaux
Bayou Pins employee & bowler■
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tions of the FCC’s ham regulations can lead to penalties of up to $2,000 and two years in jail.
Mel and Esther Simon said they have fun with the hobby and even attend amateur radio events called “ham fests,” which they said attract a wide range of enthusiasts.
“There’s a lot of odd characters on ham ra-dio,” said Mel Simon.
“And, I’ve got to tell you, if you go to a ham fest you see guys — it’s just the motliest looking crew you’ve ever seen in your life,” chuckled Esther Simon.
Ham radio may be seen as an outdated technol-ogy, but these hobbyists insist it’s still relevant. Aside from the pleasure involved, it has led to advances in other forms
of communication and is still relied on by emer-gency authorities in dire situations.
“When commercial communications fail, and they do, then they call on the hams,” said Mel Simon. “The rest of the time they don’t notice
us. I had one lady tell me, ‘Well I don’t know if I want amateurs to help us.’ It’s such a casual thing, except when we’re needed.”
to the point that he was able to make and store PDF’s. And he also discovered that there was more history available as he found many old programs and scrapbook data from games that New Iberia played.
“I turned all the game accounts into PDF’s,” said Onellion. “I have PDFs of every game back to 1909 that I have ac-counted for. That’s over 870 games that I’ve accounted for in the history of the school and there are probably some more that are out there that I’m going to have to go our of town to other places to do the research.”
Eventually, he would like to have an complete data base of every New Iberia High School and NISH football game ever played.
“When we’re done, we’re going to have the most complete football history
probably of any school in the state,” said Onellion. “I want this to be a living history and the most important message in all of this is to get the message out to everyone in the community to send in information about New Iberia high school football so we can have the com-plete football history of the school.
“Not only to honor the past, but to also have something for our future.”
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The Daily Iberian / Thursday, February 21, 2013 / Page 5lifestyles Profi le 2013 / Celebrating Our Community
ONELLION: Important message
HAM: ‘They call on the hams ...’
FROM PAGE 4
FROM PAGE 4
ZACK LASALLE / THE DAILY IBERIANMel Simon enjoys his amateur radio hobby and attends events called ‘ham fests’ with his wife, Esther. ‘There’s a lot of odd characters on ham radio,’ he says.
Pat Onellion of New Iberia, above, has spent countless hours researching foot-
ball games played by New Iberia High. Hehas updated results back to 1904.
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Laportes appreciate respect for ‘rat rods’BY JESSICA GOFF
THE DAILY IBERIAN
You may have seen at least one or two parked among Model T’s and
1957 Chevrolets at car show around the Teche Area, or one may have turned your head while out on the road.
No, those hot rods aren’t half-fi nished garage projects or the work of Dr. Frankenstein, they’re works of art, owners say.
The rust-clad, stripped down mid-century models are “rat rods”, a term coined decades ago to describe unsightly half-fi nished restoration jobs.
“It was usually when people ran out of money,” Sammy Laporte, classic car owner and organizer of the Bayou Coun-try Cruisers Car Club, said.
But by the 1970s rat rods gained a new respect from clas-sic car enthusiasts and their notoriety earned the vehicles their own category among car clubs and shows throughout the country.
Laporte, a New Iberia native owns a handful of what he calls “shiny” antique show cars in-cluding a one-of-kind 1931 Ford Victoria convertible. But he’s also a proud owner of a 1935 Chevrolet rat rod.
The club’s car shows draw big crowds throughout the year and are often held at charity events including the Lydia Cancer Association’s Cajun Food Fest, Laporte said.
While Model T’s, muscle cars and fl ashy, fi nned-1950’s Chevro-let get their share of attention, Laporte said nowadays rat rods are unlikely belles of the ball.
“The kids love them. They climb in an out of them. Even the parents get in them and take pictures with the cars, because you can’t hurt the
car. Can’t scratch it,” Sammy Laporte said.
Laporte’s daughter, Penny La-porte, is often the driver of his gritty, dystopian truck, which atfi rst glimpse looks like some-thing out of the 1960s television show “The Munsters.”
“When I show up in it some of the kids at fi rst get scared,” Penny Laporte said with a laugh. “It’s usually when they see the rats.”
Yes, rats.
‘I want this to be a living history . . .’
Pat Onellion
New Iberia High football history buff■
JESSICA GOFF / THE DAILY IBERIANClassic car owner Sammy Laporte stands outside a ‘rat rod’ while his daughter Penny Laporte sits behind the wheel of the old car.
JESSICA GOFF / THE DAILY IBERIANA mounted alligator head sits atop the engine of this ‘rat rod’ at Sammy Laporte’s residence in New Iberia.
SEE LAPORTES, PAGE 6
NEAL MCCLELLAND / THE DAILY IBERIAN
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The Daily Iberian / Thursday, February 21, 2013 / Page 3lifestyles Profi le 2013 / Celebrating Our Community
CHRIS LANDRY / THE DAILY IBERIANLarry Hensgens talks about his trips to Eu-rope for the British Masters Championship basketball tournaments over the years.
Globe-trotting Hensgens stands tallBY CHRIS LANDRY
THE DAILY IBERIAN
In a group of basket-ball players with col-lege and professional
hoops pedigrees, New Iberia’s Larry Hensgens stands out for more than one reason.
Not only is he shorter than almost everyone on the Randy Smith Basket-ball men’s 50-plus team, he’s also the only one who never even complet-ed his high school basket-ball career. Hensgens, at 6-2 only taller than team founder Randy Smith (6 feet tall), played only through 10th grade. Most of the team members played in college, and many, like former Uni-versity of Southwestern Louisiana standout Kevin Figaro, have professional experience.
But Hensgens, a senior vice president at Com-munity First Bank, has been a valued member of a team that’s won seven
British Masters Basket-ball Association champi-onships, placed second twice and third another time.
Hensgens will return to Great Britain with the team this summer to again compete against teams from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, England and Germany. Smith’s team is the only Ameri-can squad that competes in the tournament.
“I’ve made several trips out there,” said Hensgens. “The fi rst time I thought it was the opportunity of a lifetime, and I have had several opportunities since then (to return).”
Hensgens said his fi rst trip to Britain to compete in the tournament was his fi rst trip overseas.
“Randy and I played a lot of softball together, senior softball,” said Hensgens. “He had an offi ce (for his oilfi eld business) with a train-ing school in Aberdeen,
Scotland, and used to live there many years ago. One year he asked me if I’d be interested in going (for the basketball tournament, competing in the 40-plus group at the time).”
Hensgens said he couldn’t justify such a trip fi nancially, but Smith offered to help subsidize the trip, some-thing he does for several players on the team. Of course, Smith fi rst had to see if Hensgens could play.
“He asked me to go play at Red’s (gym in Lafayette) one morning,” said Hensgens. Smith asked him afterwards if he was still interested, so he fi gured his friend thought highly enough of his skills to still want him to play after his unoffi cial tryout.
“I’ve been going with him ever since almost ev-ery year,” said Hensgens.
Smith, who now lives in Natchez, Miss., after
having lived in Lafay-ette previously, said he had played on a team of American expatriates in a basketball league in Scotland when he lived there while in his 30s. After moving back to the states, he said, he had an oilfi eld training business with an offi ce in Scotland and continued to play basketball when he made trips to that offi ce.
“When I got in my 40s, the fi rst team I brought was Larry and fi ve guys,” said Smith. “When we got there they gave us four British guys (to fi ll out the roster), and we won the champi-onship.”
Hensgens is not par-ticularly tall, said Smith, but he is a unique player, very cagey around the basket.
“He positions himself where the goal prevents players from blocking his shots,” said Smith.
The team includes players from Louisiana — Harold Register and Anthony LeBlanc are other South Louisiana players on the squad — Miami, Boston and Dal-las. This year’s tourney will include 24 teams in the 40 and over division, 12 in the 50 and over group that Smith’s squad plays in, and 12 35-and-over women’s teams.
Hensgens usually comes in as a sub for one of the 6-8 guys on the team. Most players in the tournament are much taller than he is, Hensgens said, and have played in professional leagues in Europe.
Though they may not be able to react as quickly, jump as high or have the stamina they once had, he said, the players still show the skill sets they had as younger players.
“You’re playing with 6-8 guys who can shoot 20-foot jumpers,” said Hensgens. “It’s amaz-ing.”
Smith knows how important the trips to Britain have been for Hensgens.
“Larry has been very loyal to it,” said Smith. “I think it’s been a big change for him to go over there representing Louisiana.”
One of the best things about playing in the British Masters Champi-onships is the exposure he’s gotten to a different culture, said Hensgens. The tournament has been played in various places around the Brit-ish Isles, but his favor-ite remains Aberdeen, Scotland, which reminds him somewhat of South Louisiana. The culture is more rural, he said, and the people very friendly
there, though he some-times has a tough time with their accents.
The team usually leaves the U.S. on a Tues-day, adjusts to the time difference — London is six hours ahead of New Iberia time — on Wednesday, practices on Thursday and then plays on the weekend, with Hensgens returning on Monday.
There’s some sightsee-ing — a trip to fabled St. Andrew’s golf club in Scotland, though he’s not much of a golfer, was special, he said — and time spent with friends he’s made.
“I really, really enjoy Scotland,” said Hens-gens. “I’m more of a ru-ral guy in stead of a big city guy. They clown me because my food tastes are more limited.”
Local banker plays hoops in England
Randy Smith’s 2011 Louisiana Team, from left, back row, Kevin Figaro of Lafayette; Julio Davilla of Miami; Mike McCarty of London and Greg McInney of Houston and,
from left, front row, Larry Hensgens of New Iberia; Mark David of Dallas; Randy Smith of Natchez, Miss.; Anthony LeBlanc of Jen-nings and James Payne of San Francisco. SEE HENSGENS, PAGE 4
SUBMITTED
CHRIS LANDRY / THE DAILY IBERIANThe Highland Quaich, or cup, given to Larry Hensgensafter his team won the 2008 British Masters basketballchampionship tournament.
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It’s not the fi rst time sports has broad-ened Hensgens’ horizons. He’s traveled around the country playing softball for many years, inspired by his father, lo-cal legend Lawrence “Square” Hens-gens.
The father and son duo hold a rare honor as both have been inducted into statewide softball halls of fame — Larry inducted into the Louisi-ana USSSA Hall of Fame in 2005 and Square into the Louisiana ASA Hall of Fame in 2012. Square Hensgens also is a charter member of the New Iberia Recreation Department’s Softball Hall of Fame, which Larry Hensgens helped found as a way to honor players of his dad’s generation and other play-ers from the past.
“My dad and his buddies were my he-roes growing up,” said Larry Hensgens. “We set the minimum age on that at 60 because we wanted to do something to honor them while they were still living.”
He said it bothers him when he sees other people honored posthumously for their accomplishments, and added
it feels good seeing the local softball legends get their due.
“To some of these guys, that’s the most important thing that’s happened in their lives outside of their families and kids,” said Hensgens.
The younger Hensgens said some of his best childhood memories are of being awakened by his dad to go to the ballpark on weekends, where he’d watch Square blast the ball out of the park. The pride he felt in watching his dad circle the bases came rushing back when his dad, then 78 and having survived since 1999 without a heart transplant that doctors said he needed then, was inducted into the ASA Hall of Fame.
“He was a home run hitter, and I couldn’t wait for him to get around the bases so I could hug his leg,” said Hensgens.
Though his dad grew up in a gen-eration where fathers weren’t overtly loving towards their children, he said, Hensgens still looks to his father for approval.
“His acceptance is very important to me,” said Hensgens.
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Page 4 / Thursday, February 21, 2013 / The Daily Iberian lifestylesProfi le 2013 / Celebrating Our Community
HENSGENS: Father an inspirationFROM PAGE 3
How ’bout that game? If it’s NISH football,Onellion knows it
BY NEAL MCCLELLAND
THE DAILY IBERIAN
Pat Onellion has two homes, the home he lives in
and the Main Street branch of the Iberia Parish Library.
Specifi cally, the room that houses microfi lm records, where he has been painstakingly researching football record from New Iberia Senior High starting from 1904.
“It’s a real labor of love,” said Onellion. “I want to create a living history of football at New Iberia Senior High. Something that will be around for a long time and can con-stantly be updated and maintained.”
Onellion quest started many years ago when he grew up a couple of blocks away from New Iberia High School and went to the high school football games at Lloyd G. Por-ter Stadium.
“I grew up next to the football stadium on the corner of Center and Hacker,” said Onellion. “We had New Iberia High School next to us and we were very aware of what was going on at the high school, especially dur-ing football season.”
Onellion added that he grew up in an era when New Iberia was going through a low point in its football history but in 1971 the team started off 5-0 and the whole town was going crazy.
Curiosity got the better of him and Onellion wondered when the last time that happened. He checked the school, The Daily Iberian and the library and discovered that no one had researched
New Iberia High foot-ball.
Thus, a passion was born.
Onellion also found out that no other high schools in the Acadiana area had any research done on their city schools either. He started at the present and went back-wards in time, fi nding out as much as possible about New Iberia high school football.
“I made it back to 1904, which was as far back as I could fi nd the fi rst mention of football at New Iberia High,” said Onellion. “It was also the fi rst team that’s shown in the history of New Ibe-
ria High in the book by Vivian Mestayer which she did in 1951.”
Onellion maintained his records for several years but the research fell by the wayside when he moved away. He said that he found his records again about six months ago but the his-tory had stopped from 1984 to the current day.
So he started updat-ing the record and he decided that he was going to give a copy to the school.
In the process of up-dating his information he discovered that tech-nology had advanced
Radio operators ‘ham’ it up to communicate
BY ZACK LASALLE
THE DAILY IBERIAN
Radio, for some enthusiasts, is not fi nding a station that is playing music or other programming. It’s
entertaining communication. “A radio will work anywhere. A cell
phone won’t,” said Nathan Stelly, an amateur radio enthusiast from Erath.
Modern amateur radio, or ham as it’s often called, traces its roots back to the early 20th century when the fi rst directory for amateur radio stations was published in 1909 called the “First Annual Offi cial Wireless Blue Book of the Wireless Association of America.” The nickname “ham” was the pejora-tive name that 19th century landline telegraphers used to refer to incom-petent operators. Professional radio operators adopted the term to refer to amateurs, who have since embraced the sobriquet.
Stelly said he’s been a ham operator since 1990. He said he was always inter-ested in radio and a friend recommended the hobby. The Federal Communi-cation Commission (FCC) regulates ham operators and grants three levels of license, which are earned after passing the appropriate written test. Stelly said most people he knows are technician class, or 2-meter, which is the basic level. The other two classes require more training, but grant wider spectrums of use.
Stelly said that he uses his radio to con-tact people as far as Israel. Once, he said he overheard a space shuttle conversation. However, the most common practical use for ham radio is during weather emergen-cies. Following Hurricane Katrina, ham radio was one of the only remaining lines of communication in the area.
Mel Simon of New Iberia said he uses ham mostly for fun. He and many other ham operators have their own postcard-like call cards to exchange with other operators they contact. The cards are mailed and operators’ collections become something of a bragging right. Simon, 72, said his interest in amateur radio began when he was child.
“I went to school and one of my classmates had a little piece of paper and it was the American Morse Code. I said, ‘What’s that?’ He says, ‘Well, that’s a code. We can send messages in our classrooms and nobody will know what we’re saying.’ Well, that was of inter-est immediately,” said Simon. “So, from there, I talked my daddy into getting me a little short-wave radio and I sat up way too many nights, way too many hours, listening ship to shore — Morse code.”
Simon said he received his license in 1962. He said he’s talked to people as far as China, but most enjoys con-tacting lighthouses, battleships and submarines. He said he and his son Mel
Simon Jr., who is a licensed ham opera-tor working for the U.S. military, keep a regular schedule to talk to each other. Simon said he even convinced his wife of 53 years, Esther Simon, to get her ham license.
“I’m deaf in one ear. So, I’d always told him (Mel) that if ever they allow me to get a license where I don’t have to do the (Morse) code that I would get my license up to the 2-meter,” said Esther Simon. “And, don’t you know about two years later they did it.”
Every operator is designated a call sign, which they use to recognize themselves. A relatively recent FCC regulation requires that an operator must recognize themselves within 10 minutes of a transmission. However, its rules also state that an operator cannot communicate with anyone unlicensed. This catch-22 scenario and other regula-tory problems sometimes occur, but Mel Simon said the FCC rarely does much to enforce casual errors. Although, viola-
‘I’m deaf in one ear. So, I’d always told him that if ever
they allow me to get a license where I don’t have to do that (Morse) code that I would get my license up to the 2-meter. And, you don’t know about two years later
they did it.’
Esther Simon
Amateur radio operator■
‘I have PDFs of every game back to 1909 that I have accounted for.
That’s over 870 games...
Pat Onellion
New Iberia High football historian■
NEAL MCCLELLAND / THE DAILY IBERIANNew Iberian Pat Onellion has researched rows and rows of microfi lm and other data to record the football history at New Iberia High.
Amateur radio enthusiast Nathan Stelly of Erath points out that a ‘ham radio’ will
work anywhere, unlike a cell phone. He enjoys communicating with other hams.
SEE ONELLION, PAGE 5SEE HAM, PAGE 5
Every amateur radio operator is designated a call sign, which they use to recognize themselves. ...Operators must recognize themselves within 10 minutes of a transmission.
Getting his hands on the history ... of NISH football
ZACK LASALLE / THE DAILY IBERIAN
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BY JESSICA GOFF
THE DAILY IBERIAN
On any given night of the week, the lanes at Bayou
Pins are packed with generations of bowlers who range from seasoned pros to novices perfecting their form or just having a good time.
Bayou Pins employee and longtime bowler Linda Reaux said she’s met faithful local bowl-ers of all walks of life through the decades who come for the sport as well as to socialize.
“I started when I was 15. I would bowl in the junior league and all that. But I think it’s more about friends,” she said. “Instead of going to a bar and worrying all about that, this is a place where all your friends can get to-gether and you’ll see them maybe one night and then you won’t see them the rest of the week. And then we also have some bowl-ers that bowl like three nights a week.”
New Iberia resident and Iberia Parish School Board member Elvin Pra-dia said he’s been bowling for more than 40 years. For him, bowling is good exercise and provides plenty of atmosphere for camaraderie.
And there’s no use try-ing to blame your perfor-mance on the lighthearted heckling from fellow league mates, he added.
“It’s just fun because it’s still an individual game so you can’t blame anybody but yourself when you mess up,” he said with a laugh. “We used bowl here two nights a week and then we’d go to Lafayette two nights a week. Then open bowling on Sundays. Sometimes we’d go at 1 p.m. and then stay there until 9 or 10 p.m. at night.”Bayou Pins’ newest own-ers, Greg and Ginger Melancon took over the business last summer. Son Greg Melancon Jr. said the alley was originally lo-cated off of Charles Street
and had been in operation since the 1960s.He said the alley stays busy, but its stream of competitive costumers could eventually wane.
“The problem nowadays is our clientele is older, because younger people just aren’t as interested in the sport as they used to be,” he said.
But for Rebecca Fich-ter, 18, bowling is a sport she’s loved since she was 5 years old, she said.
“The feeling of mak-ing a strike is just, it’s
overwhelming,” the South Louisiana Community College student said be-tween her turns to bowl on a Wednesday league night. “To see at least a
200 on you’re score, it’s pretty great.
She’s pretty good, she said, but it took practice. Her advice: “Make sure to keep your hand straight.”
But because it is an individual sport, Reaux said it’s important to develop your own style and technique that works for you.
“Don’t come out and try to bowl like everyone else. Do your own thing,” she said.
“There are some ladies that come in and bowl beautifully. But me bowl like that? I’d hurt myself !”she said with a laugh.
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Page 2 / Thursday, February 21, 2013 / The Daily Iberian lifestylesProfi le 2013 / Celebrating Our Community
INDEX■
Shooting hoops across the big pondBank of cer Larry Hensgens rings up points as a member of a basketball team that wins champion-ships in England.
— PAGE 3
Getting a handle on amateur radioTeche Area residents Nathan Stelly and Mel Simon are avid ham radio operators who enjoy the old form of communication.
— PAGE 4
Glory days of the gridiron recordedPat Onellion of New Iberia started looking up scores of New Iberia High football games from years ago. The hobby grew into a passion to chronicle stats and scores.
— PAGE 4
These ‘rat rods’ are works of artClassic car owner Sammy LaPorte enjoys half- nished projects in the garage ... those rust-clad, stripped-down mid-century model cars.
— PAGE 5
Bowlers roll on from all
walks of life
LEE BALL / THE DAILY IBERIANPins fl y regularly, like after this delivery, above, at Bayou Pins bowling alley in New Iberia.
Bayou Pins, a local alley, fills lanes with enthusiasts
LEE BALL / THE DAILY IBERIANWhether they are seasoned veterans are novices facing the pins for the fi rst time, bowlers aim for high pin count.
‘Don’t come out and try to bowl like everyone
else. Do your own thing.’
Linda Reaux
Bayou Pins employee & bowler■
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tions of the FCC’s ham regulations can lead to penalties of up to $2,000 and two years in jail.
Mel and Esther Simon said they have fun with the hobby and even attend amateur radio events called “ham fests,” which they said attract a wide range of enthusiasts.
“There’s a lot of odd characters on ham ra-dio,” said Mel Simon.
“And, I’ve got to tell you, if you go to a ham fest you see guys — it’s just the motliest looking crew you’ve ever seen in your life,” chuckled Esther Simon.
Ham radio may be seen as an outdated technol-ogy, but these hobbyists insist it’s still relevant. Aside from the pleasure involved, it has led to advances in other forms
of communication and is still relied on by emer-gency authorities in dire situations.
“When commercial communications fail, and they do, then they call on the hams,” said Mel Simon. “The rest of the time they don’t notice
us. I had one lady tell me, ‘Well I don’t know if I want amateurs to help us.’ It’s such a casual thing, except when we’re needed.”
to the point that he was able to make and store PDF’s. And he also discovered that there was more history available as he found many old programs and scrapbook data from games that New Iberia played.
“I turned all the game accounts into PDF’s,” said Onellion. “I have PDFs of every game back to 1909 that I have ac-counted for. That’s over 870 games that I’ve accounted for in the history of the school and there are probably some more that are out there that I’m going to have to go our of town to other places to do the research.”
Eventually, he would like to have an complete data base of every New Iberia High School and NISH football game ever played.
“When we’re done, we’re going to have the most complete football history
probably of any school in the state,” said Onellion. “I want this to be a living history and the most important message in all of this is to get the message out to everyone in the community to send in information about New Iberia high school football so we can have the com-plete football history of the school.
“Not only to honor the past, but to also have something for our future.”
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The Daily Iberian / Thursday, February 21, 2013 / Page 5lifestyles Profi le 2013 / Celebrating Our Community
ONELLION: Important message
HAM: ‘They call on the hams ...’
FROM PAGE 4
FROM PAGE 4
ZACK LASALLE / THE DAILY IBERIANMel Simon enjoys his amateur radio hobby and attends events called ‘ham fests’ with his wife, Esther. ‘There’s a lot of odd characters on ham radio,’ he says.
Pat Onellion of New Iberia, above, has spent countless hours researching foot-
ball games played by New Iberia High. Hehas updated results back to 1904.
Subscribe toThe Daily Iberian
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Laportes appreciate respect for ‘rat rods’BY JESSICA GOFF
THE DAILY IBERIAN
You may have seen at least one or two parked among Model T’s and
1957 Chevrolets at car show around the Teche Area, or one may have turned your head while out on the road.
No, those hot rods aren’t half-fi nished garage projects or the work of Dr. Frankenstein, they’re works of art, owners say.
The rust-clad, stripped down mid-century models are “rat rods”, a term coined decades ago to describe unsightly half-fi nished restoration jobs.
“It was usually when people ran out of money,” Sammy Laporte, classic car owner and organizer of the Bayou Coun-try Cruisers Car Club, said.
But by the 1970s rat rods gained a new respect from clas-sic car enthusiasts and their notoriety earned the vehicles their own category among car clubs and shows throughout the country.
Laporte, a New Iberia native owns a handful of what he calls “shiny” antique show cars in-cluding a one-of-kind 1931 Ford Victoria convertible. But he’s also a proud owner of a 1935 Chevrolet rat rod.
The club’s car shows draw big crowds throughout the year and are often held at charity events including the Lydia Cancer Association’s Cajun Food Fest, Laporte said.
While Model T’s, muscle cars and fl ashy, fi nned-1950’s Chevro-let get their share of attention, Laporte said nowadays rat rods are unlikely belles of the ball.
“The kids love them. They climb in an out of them. Even the parents get in them and take pictures with the cars, because you can’t hurt the
car. Can’t scratch it,” Sammy Laporte said.
Laporte’s daughter, Penny La-porte, is often the driver of his gritty, dystopian truck, which atfi rst glimpse looks like some-thing out of the 1960s television show “The Munsters.”
“When I show up in it some of the kids at fi rst get scared,” Penny Laporte said with a laugh. “It’s usually when they see the rats.”
Yes, rats.
‘I want this to be a living history . . .’
Pat Onellion
New Iberia High football history buff■
JESSICA GOFF / THE DAILY IBERIANClassic car owner Sammy Laporte stands outside a ‘rat rod’ while his daughter Penny Laporte sits behind the wheel of the old car.
JESSICA GOFF / THE DAILY IBERIANA mounted alligator head sits atop the engine of this ‘rat rod’ at Sammy Laporte’s residence in New Iberia.
SEE LAPORTES, PAGE 6
NEAL MCCLELLAND / THE DAILY IBERIAN
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is standing with a wooden crossbar he installed on the anchor. LeBlanc said he wanted to share the story of the anchor and donate it to the Port of Delcambre to have a permanent home at the marina.
“Where it’s at, it’s about a block from the marina, but I thought maybe it would be a little tourist draw,” he said. “Maybe we could get a few people to come and look at it.”
Port of Delcambre Direc-tor Wendell Verret said he and other residents of Delcambre always had an interest in the anchor.
“When he said he would donate it to the marina, it was a very proud moment for us,” Verret said. “It made those of us on the
port and the steering com-mittee feel that our efforts are appreciated and that we are on the right track.”
LeBlanc said he wants to see a plaque in place explaining the history of the anchor before he will deliver it to the marina.
The marina is being landscaped, Verret said, and one section of the landscaping will feature the anchor and a plaque. He said the port is inves-tigating getting a his-toric monument plaque through state agencies.
“Hopefully, we can set a date for a dedication ceremony in this spring. We are defi nitely ready to move as quickly as pos-sible,” said Verret.
The port has incorpo-rated the anchor into its marina logo, Verret said.
He said he hopes to weave the story of the anchor into the port’s marketing literature and feature it in the decor of the ma-rina building and other planned marina facilities.
“Hopefully, we can begin to collect other historic artifacts and stories about Delcambre to give the marina a sense of place,” he said.
LeBlanc said he is simply pleased to be able to donate the anchor to the port because it will have a per-manent home and it will be able to tell a story about the history of his town.
“The marina is going to be really nice when it’s fi nished. I’m just glad to be able to donate some-thing that might bring a few tourists to our little town,” he said.
BY HOPE RURIK
THE DAILY IBERIAN
New Iberia pilots have different rea-sons for getting in
the air, but several started out the same way: a life-long fascination for fl ying.
Bill Miller, 70, grew up along the Gulf in Aransas Pass, Texas, watching pilots hover in their sea planes over the beach on the look out for red fi sh be-fore landing up the shore line to cast directly from their planes. Miller said he always wanted to be in that cockpit. He started taking fl ying lessons in 1961, but Miller said he couldn’t afford to continue fl ying after college.
Don Broussard, 57, said from an early age he want-ed to fl y. He found his way to the air by starting out as an aircraft mechanic.
Broussard said he sought out a school in Oklahoma to get the proper training be-fore returning to Louisiana.
Roland Denison, 71, start-ed fl ying in 1968. He said his pastime as a boy was building model airplanes, saying he was always inter-ested. Denison also stopped fl ying after college.
Richard Ferrell, 81, was a crew member on an aircraft carrier during the Korean War. After college, Ferrell became a commercial pilot.
Richard “Dick” E. Spears, 72, said one of the fi rst toys he ever got was a 10-cent airplane. After high school, Spears enlisted in the Navy.
The fi rst time he was ever in a plane was his fl ight to boot camp in California.
Stop by Pelican Aviation and you’re likely to run into at least one of these
pilots. It doesn’t take long to realize that even though they all share a love of aviation, each one appreci-ates fl ying a bit differently.
Spears grew up on a cotton farm in Arkansas and found himself in New Iberia when the airport was still a Naval base.
When he took his fi rst fl ight in a Naval trainer Spears said something clicked.
“It was like, ‘This is home,’” he said.
Spears said he was lucky to always have access to planes for business, fi rst for other companies and then his own.
In 1976, Spears and former University of Southwestern
Louisiana classmate John Fallis, of Lafay-ette, started collect-ing and rebuilding planes for recreation.
Their fi rst plane cost $4,200.
The two have a hangar on the sea-way at the Acadiana Regional Airport, and over the years, the two have owned
15 to 20 planes, many of which Spears said were either rebuilt or built from scratch.
“My life revolves around aviation,” Spears said. “It’s affected my whole life and probably defi nes who I am more than anything else.”
Spears said depending on the weather, he might fl ight out once or twice a week.
Broussard is a frequent fl yer as well but for differ-ent reasons.
Broussard works for a shared ownership company that fl ies out share owners throughout the world.
“It’s still enjoyable, but it can be challenging and de-manding,” Broussard said.
He said he still fl ies for
his own interest and trans-portation and is building a plane now for the same purpose.
Denison started fl ying again in 1985. Now he’s the area Experimental AircraftAssociation president. He said fl ying is just some-thing he enjoys.
“Some people boat, some people fi sh,” he said. “I fl y.”
Miller held a similar be-lief. “It’s just like fi shing or playing golf,” he said. “It’s a pastime you like to do.”
But just like some people fi sh to let the fi sh go, and others fi sh to eat, Miller said people fl y for different reasons.
Miller is in the process of getting paperwork in order to fl y solo again after a heart attack 10 years ago, which has prevented him from fl ying alone.
Spears said for a lot of commercial or professionalpilots look at fl ying as a job. He said of the 13 peoplewho graduated with him from the Navy, only he and one other are still fl ying.
“There are only a few of us addicts,” he said.
The hoodless front of Laporte’s rat rod is embel-lished with a couple of large rubber rats, an alligator head and large mounted tortoise shell.
An old wooden park bench is what both driver and passenger must sit on in the two-seater vehicle. The gas peddle is a welded wrench and the truck bed is lined with planks of ragged-edged cypress wood. To add to the vehicle’s curi-ously macabre and showy, over-the-top appearance, the car even shoots fl ames as its engine bellows.
Though original rat rods were just considered unfi nished garage projects, Laporte said, building one now can be more costly than restoring more pristine clas-sic car.
But building a rat rod is a heck of a lot more fun, he added.
“Anything you can imag-ine is put of these cars,” he said. “You’ve got to have the imagination. You don’t use nut and bolts. You use a welding machine.”
Though the rusted out vehicles look like heaps too dangerous too drive, Laporte said each rat rod must be “street legal” com-plete working lights, breaks.
“Otherwise we can’t put license plates on ‘em,” he said.
Fellow classic car collec-tor and car club member Tommy Landry is who introduced him to rat rods, Laporte said.
Landry owns a few of his own custom-built rat rods, including a 1948 Buick Road Master hearse that operates with a transmis-sion taken from an old church bus, and a 1929 Ford complete with welded tractor seats, beer tap handle for a shift, and beer can for its oil fl ow.
While classic and antique show cars have their own appeal, Landry said rat rods are simply pure fun.
The psychobilly rods
have carved their niche into the gearhead culture and have a loyal fan base of all ages.
In March, Landry said his rat rods will head to Gulfport, Miss., for the Atomic Blast car show where the vehicles will join hundreds of other mid-century hot rods and will participate in some down-and-dirty competition.
“There will be rat rod fi re trucks, burnouts and drags. That’s what it’s all about. No shiny cars.” Landry said. “They’ll have contests where they’ll jump in ‘em and spin the wheels and whoever blows a tire wins.”
“It’s about doughnuts, burning out and just about the raggediest damn car you can make and you can still drive it.”
Asked what makes a vehicle a certifi ed rat rod, Penny Laporte smiled and simply replied “rust.”
“You clean these things with WD40. That’s how you keep them shiny,” she said with a laugh.
Laporte said there are approximately 13 to 15 rat rod owners from the Teche Area to Houma with a few in the Bayou Country Cruisers Car Club.
On March 23, the club will take part in the Brit-tany’s Project Car Show at the former Oaklawn Sugar Mill site in Frank-lin. The event is a fund-raiser for Brittany’s Proj-ect, which aims to build recreation center for those living with disabili-ties and their families.
“That’s why we do all this. We like doing these things for charity,” Sammy Laporte said.
While their “shiny cars” will be present, the rat rods are likely again steal the show.
“They all come to see the rat rods. The people will go for the rat rods be-fore they go for the shiny cars or the Model A’s,” he said. “This is the up and coming thing right now.”
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Page 6 / Thursday, February 21, 2013 / The Daily Iberian lifestylesProfi le 2013 / Celebrating Our Community
LAPORTES: No shineFROM PAGE 5
Those magnificent men in their ...
ADDITION: Might attract touristsFROM PAGE 1
From left, Roland Denison, Bill Miller and Richard Ferrell stand just outside Pelican
Aviation near a prop plane Denison builtand fl ies out of Acadiana Regional Airport.
HOPE RURIK / THE DAILY IBERIANRichard E. Spears relaxes by his plane inside his hangar at ARA.
HOPE RURIK / THE DAILY IBERIAN
... fl ying machines, which they fl y with a passion. Roland Denison, Bill Miller, Richard Ferrell and Richard E. Spears are among the aviators in the area.
lifestylesa look at some of what makes the teche area unique
a special section of The Daily Iberian / Thursday, February 21, 2013
Profi le 2013
Celebrating Our Community
Hit those pins ... strike!People of all ages from all walks of life step up close to the foul line, bowling ball in hand, start their approach and de-liver a roll they hope ends in a strike. The lanes at Bayou Pins stay full of avid bowlers.
INSIDE
• Page 2
BIG addition to collectionBY SARAH BLANCHARD
THE DAILY IBERIAN
DELCAMBRE — Edwin LeBlanc collects boats, boat engines and any-thing marine related, but his most cherished
possession is a 2,500-pound, 13-foot an-chor that is more than 250 years old.
LeBlanc said he believes oak trees are the only things in Iberia Parish that are older than the anchor.
Delcambre shrimper Sydney Schexnayder discovered the an-chor in the late 1950s or early 1960s, LeBlanc said. He said he has been intrigued by the anchor since he was a child growing up along the water-front in Delcambre.
The anchor, which has been displayed in front of LeBlanc’s boat shop since 2005, dates back to the 1740s from the Spanish ship El Nuevo Constante. The ship traveled from Spain to Veracruz to Cadiz by way of Havana when a hurricane drove the ship aground near the Louisiana coast in September 1766.
The ship was not a treasure ship, LeBlanc said, instead it was a com-mercial vessel used to transport mercury. He said liquid mercury was used to extract silver from silver ore.
The majority of the ship is still intact 12 feet below the mud line, LeBlanc said. When the ship wrecked it was approximately 300 feet from the coast, he said, but now because the coast has eroded, it is located a couple of miles offshore.
LeBlanc said the anchor was one of the largest on the boat. He said there was another anchor the same size, but it has not been discovered.
He said the other anchors that were found had an 8-foot shaft.
The anchor was displayed in front of a bar in Delcambre for nearly 30 years until the bar was demolished in the late 1980s. Erath resident E.J. LeBlanc, no relation to Edwin LeBlanc, saved the anchor from the rubble and displayed it at the boat shop he owned with his two sons.
LeBlanc said he wanted to buy
the anchor, but E.J. refused to sell it because he was afraid LeBlanc would resell the anchor to make money.
His interest in the anchor in-creased, he said, after a visit to Mys-tic, Conn., a historic whaling village that featured two prominent anchors.
“I thought that old anchor was go-ing to go to the junk pile, and I knew where it was,” he said.
After E.J. and one of his sons died,
his other son, Bubba, had a change of heart about the anchor and made a deal with LeBlanc for the anchor.
“He said, ‘Give me $100 for the an-chor and a promise you’ll never sell it to make money, plus a handshake.’ ”
The anchor has been displayed at his boat shop since he bought it, LeB-lanc said. The wrought iron anchor
SEE ADDITION, PAGE 6
His big history projectNew Iberian Pat Onellion has researched the scores and stats for New Iberia High football games dating back to the early 1900s.
A Delcambre man believes the only thing older than an anchor in the town are the oak trees ...
• Page 4
Globe-trotting hoopsterLarry Hensgens, a local banker who is well-known for his softball skills, has been playing on a 50-and-over basketball team that consistently wins its games in England.
• Page 3
SARAH BLANCHARD / THE DAILY IBERIANA huge wrought iron anchor, shown at Edwin LeBlanc’s boat shop, is traced back to the El Nuevo Constante of 1766.
SARAH BLANCHARD / THE DAILY IBERIANEdwin LeBlanc of Delcambre stands behind a wrought iron anchor that was found in the late 1950s or early 1960s by Sydney Schexnayder, a Delcambre shrimper. It wound up in Erath, where a family eventually sold it to LeBlanc, who plans to donate it to a marina at the Port of Delcambre.