Left: Frankie Fouganthin, CC BY-SA 4.0. Right: Office of Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser
Left: Armand Duplantis at Stockholm Stadium on August 24, 2019. Right: Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. Both will be inducted into the Order of Living Louisiana Legends.
Since 1997, the Acadian Museum in Erath has recognized giants of Louisiana culture in all of its facets—from art, to music, to cuisine, to literature, to education, to sports. This year, the museum will add two new individuals to its distinguished list of Living Legends—two people who, in drastically different ways, have each represented the Acadiana culture on a global scale.
The Museum’s first new inductee into the Order of Living Legends is Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, who has been a passionate advocate for Louisiana on the international stage. “Billy attended the Congrés Mondial Acadien with us [in August],” said Warren Perrin, the Acadian Museum Chairman of the Board. “His presence was certainly important, to have a leader of the cultural movement of the state there with us.” This is only one example, said Perrin, of how Nungesser has continued to champion the preservation and promotion of French culture in the state—not the least of which was his support of Louisiana’s admission into the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), putting the state on the international map with the rest of the Francophone world.
The second inductee this year is none other than Lafayette’s own hometown hero Armand “Mondo” Duplantis who, in August, captured the world’s attention by winning the Olympic Gold Medal for pole vaulting—breaking his own world record in the process. Three weeks later, he broke that record in Poland. Though he represented Sweden in the Olympics (his mother is from Sweden), Duplantis and his talents are products of Acadian heritage with a lineage that goes directly back to the first arrivals in Louisiana with Beausoleil Broussard.
Previous Order of Living Legends inductees include Cajuns and Creoles Kathleen Babineaux-Blanco, Vin Bruce, Kristie Guillory, Hunter Hayes, Barry Ancelet, and George Rodrigue; as well as countless others with less-recognizable names who have “done their part to keep the culture alive in some form or fashion,” said Perrin.
These new Louisiana Legends will be officially inducted at a gala soiree at the Community Center in Erath’s City Park on November 15 at 6 pm. All proceeds will benefit the Acadian Museum, which has preserved, promoted, and exhibited elements of Louisiana French culture since 1990. Tickets are $40. perrin@plddo.com or (337) 501-3049 for details. acadianmuseum.com.
