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Regular Session, 2010
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 42
BY REPRESENTATIVE PUGH
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To recognize Wednesday, April 7, 2010, as Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival Day.
WHEREAS, it is appropriate to commend the organizers and volunteers of the
Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival and to recognize Wednesday, April 7, 2010, as Ponchatoula
Strawberry Festival Day; and
WHEREAS, the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival Board was organized in 1971, and
the first festival was held in April of 1972; and
WHEREAS, the first Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival was cosponsored by the
Ponchatoula Jaycees and the Ponchatoula Chamber of Commerce, and both organizations
provided three members to serve on the festival board; and
WHEREAS, the planning committee and many other interested volunteers worked
diligently for months planning the first festival, which was located on the first block of North
Sixth Street and only had eleven booths; and
WHEREAS, the first Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival was a two-day event that
started off with a baseball game between Southeastern Louisiana University and Wisconsin
State, and later that day, the first annual parade made its way through Ponchatoula with
sixty-five units from all over the state; and
WHEREAS, estimated attendance for the weekend of the first Ponchatoula
Strawberry Festival was fifteen thousand; and
WHEREAS, the first royalty court of the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival consisted
of Queen Sissy Dufreche, King Fred Beachamp, and Princess Sandy Smith, and the queen
and her court made several appearances on television and radio stations throughout the state
to publicize the festival; and ENROLLEDHCR NO. 42
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WHEREAS, during his first term in office, Governor Edwin Edwards proclaimed
April as Strawberry Festival Month; and
WHEREAS, from the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival's humble beginning, it has
evolved into a Louisiana celebration second only to Mardi Gras in its magnitude; and
WHEREAS, today, the annual Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival is organized by the
Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival Board, Inc., which is comprised of a chairperson,
chairperson-elect, treasurer, secretary, parliamentarian, and other essential positions; and
WHEREAS, decisions of the festival board are the responsibility of the sixteen
voting board members who represent various organizations, including the Ponchatoula
Chamber of Commerce, the Ponchatoula Jaycees, the Ponchatoula Rotary Club, the
Ponchatoula Kiwanis, the Knights of Columbus, Ponchatoula Youth Baseball, the Champ
Cooper School, and the Ponchatoula Lions Club; and
WHEREAS, the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival Board is a proud member of
Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals; and
WHEREAS, today, the official Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival grounds include
Memorial Park and the first two blocks of North Sixth Street; and
WHEREAS, the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival continually draws a huge crowd
that strolls through America's Antique City and watches one of the biggest parades in south
Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, for more than thirty years, the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival has
provided a venue as a fundraiser for nonprofit and charitable organizations, and the festival
prides itself as being one of the only festivals in which nonprofit organizations are the only
vendors on the official festival grounds; and
WHEREAS, the 2010 Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival is being held on April 9,
2010, through April 11, 2010, in Ponchatoula, Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival and its organizers and volunteers
merit a sincere measure of commendation for their contributions to the culture and economy
of the state of Louisiana.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
recognize Wednesday, April 7, 2010, as Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival Day and does ENROLLEDHCR NO. 42
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hereby celebrate the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival as an integral part of the culture and
history of the city of Ponchatoula and the state of Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
to the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival Board, Inc.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE