Donations of money,
time, and talent were made to:
The Lorrain Bridge Association
Meetings
Meetings were advertised in media and were well attended.by citizens
and media.
A petition was signed.
Spearheaded by Gus Bell, over 600 signatures
were collected in a day and 1/2 in the local area and presented to the
Police Jury as a means to buy time to fund a way to fund the bridge.
More time was granted.
Advertising
was generously provided by word of mouth, website, emails, TV (7, 10, 18,
and 29) in Lake Charles, and Allen Tumey's newspots in Baton Rouge. T-shirts,
numerous newspaper articles in Lake Charles, Jennings, Lafayette, Eunice,
Cameron, Dequincy, Opelousas, Beaumont, meetings at Harris' Seafood in Hayes,
Big Daddy's in Iowa, and Cajun Tales in Welsh; flyers of each events circulated
in local businesses, schools, and
churches; Talks to civic groups as Kiwanis Clubs in Lake Charles and
Jennings, Rotary Clubs in Welsh, Sulphur, and Lake Charles.
The Calcasieu Preservation Society placed Lorrain Bridge on the
10 most endangered places in Calcasieu Parish. The Louisiana Alliance
Preservation Society placed Lorrain Bridge on the 10 most endangered
historic sites in the state of Louisiana. The 5th grade gifted group of
Kathy Istre at Dolby Elementary took pictures of Lorrain Bridge as one of
the 10 most endanged sites, Their research and picture collection were at
their school then donated to the archives at McNeese State University. TV
appearances on two morning shows on KPLC 7 and the news interview on
FOX 29. An internation magazine published in Europe (England & UK),
"Cajun Life & Times", featired Lorrain Bridge history and
events in
this magazine. The owner and editor of the magazine--Lauraine Bridges
found us on the web. Mrs. Bridges and her family and friends from England
attended several of our events. Mr. Bridges is a bridge engineer.
Numerous fund raisers were sponsored
and held
from 2002-2004.
Donations began with simple donations
in glass jars at the first meeting
were a non profit organization was formed--"The Lorrain Bridge Association"
for the purpose of raising funds to restore the bridge in December, 2001.
This website designed by Euna Poole and Ron Guidry was launched.
(Donations were received from all over the United States, England, and France.)
Fundraisers: Elton & Pat Louviere
donated 100 prints of "Sunrise at Lorrain"
for the purpose of raising funds;Ronnie Fruge donated his Lorrain Bridge
Song
for sale;- Le Cour de la Pont (The Run for the Bridge) at Lorrain Bridge
was
success; Raffle of an Elton Louviere original print of Lorrain Bridge (lst
Lorrain Bridge print) was donated; T-shirts were designed and printed at
cost
by the Gotreaux's at Lacassine; Memory Boards were sold; ;The Idlers Club
held a car shows; Elvis Fontenot and the Sugar Bees from England donated
their time and talent to perform at the Lake Shore Club in Lake Arthur (no
cost); Fresh WaterFishing Tournament at Lorrain Bridge;Salt Water Fishing
Tournament at Hackberry Multipurpose Center; The Zigler Museum hosted an
Auction (Ms. Spears);; Food
and Music Festival at Iowa Park(no cost to the organization); Numerous donations
were sent in. Musics performances donated by the Fruge Family; Burton Coliseum
in Lake Charles was the location of The Lorrain Bridge Festival were many
members of both parishes participated. The W(Welsh) & L(Lacassine)
Trail Riders rode from Jeff Davis Parish to the Burton Coliseum to join
the
festivities. Two Lorrain Bridge Pageants were held and all royalty members
became part of the last event--the dedication of the newly reconstructed
Lorrain Bridge, June 13, 2004 with the same look of the 1950 revision of
the 1900 drawbridge. Improvements included safety measures such as
guardrails, wider and thicker boards, adding to the width, but preserving
the
historic look. The Calcasieu Parish government channel aired the
dedication for one week on TV.
The Lorrain Bridge Association was able to provide $45,000.00 in matching
funds to apply to grants from the Walmart ($2000), and state grants. Both
Calcasieu Parish and Jeff Davis Parishes with the help of Senator Jerry
Theinusen and Representative "Blade" Morrish secured state rural
grants. Govenor Foster had provided $2million for all state bridges. As
others grants were dropped because of matching funds not made available,
more funds became available because of our matching funds and their ingenuity.
The first rural grant of $133,760.00 was accepted by the Police Juries leaving
each parish to provide matching funds of $77,620. (The Jeff Davis Tourist
Commission provided $10,000 grant towards the Jeff Davis portion and $65,000
was from rural development funds.) Calcasieu Parish Police Jury graciously
provided the $28,000 missing to provide for the lowest reconstruction bid
in January, 2004 meeting. $334,000 already available and the extra 28,000
met the low bid.
The Lorrain Bridge Memory Board monument was built from original cypress
from the old bridge. Calcasieu Parish park employees built and installed
the sign. The only expenses incurred from the purchase of the granite tiles,
backing of the tiles, . Lazerworks, Mr. J. W. Miller dontated his work and
installed the tiles. Visit the Memorial
Sign and find out more!
Please Email any corrections, additions,
and questions to: ppoole5@centurytel.net or Lorrain
Bridge Association; P. O. Box 577; Hayes, LA 70646
