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GUMBO COOK-OFF
Atchafalaya Bit & Bridle Club fourth annual Gumbo Cook-Off Saturday, Nov. 9, at the ABBC Arena, 1347 Youngs Road, Morgan City. Teams compete for best gumbo in town title. Prizes: cash prizes first-third, best potato salad and people’s choice. Public admission: $5 for all you can eat gumbo. ABBC also offers lead line pony rides, food, drinks and sweets. Opens to public at 11:45 a.m. Cook-off teams contact Danielle after 5 p.m. at 985-397-3842. ABBC is located at 1347 Youngs Rd. in Morgan City.

LOSS OF SPOUSE
Support Group lunch meeting 12:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15, at Atkinson Memorial Presbyterian Church hall, 212 Fourth St., Morgan City. Anyone who has lost a spouse through death is welcome.

AARP DANCE
Is 7-11 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30, at St. Mary Senior Citizens Center, 4014 Chennault St., Morgan City. Music by Tet Dur. Ticket, $10, at door. Non-members welcome. For info call 985-384-2277.

The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux and the Catholic Foundation of South Louisiana have joined forces with 39 other dioceses and archdioceses in the United States to host its fourth annual #iGiveCatholic giving day on #GivingTuesday, Dec. 3.
#iGiveCatholic is a 24-hour online giving challenge that celebrates the work of Catholic schools, ministries, church parishes and other charitable organizations affiliated with the participating dioceses and also helps to celebrate all those who give throughout the diocese. Throughout the giving day, from midnight on Dec. 3 until the stroke of midnight on Dec. 4, Catholics can go to iGiveCatholic.org/Houma-Thibodaux and click on a specific ministry listed there to make a donation with their credit card.
“We are excited to host our fourth annual #iGiveCatholic campaign to bring our Catholic community together as one in support of our local church parishes, schools and ministries,” says Amy Ponson, executive director of the Catholic Foundation of South Louisiana. “We’re thrilled to be able to offer multiple incentive prizes to encourage our ministries to promote their individual projects and raise funds for these projects to advance the mission of the Catholic Church.”

Once upon a time late October and early November were days of high anticipation, not only because it was the time when traditional football rivals met but also because it was when American automakers unveiled their spiffy new models.
Ford introduced its family sedan and its fancier Mercurys and Lincolns. Chevrolets led the General Motors parade, but GM also showed off its new Buicks, Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs, and Cadillacs. Chrysler brought out its Plymouths and Dodges, along with its namesake brand. But there were also a few other models to pick from back in the days when I first became interested in such things.
The advertisements proclaimed, for example, that all you had to do was get a peek at the 1959 DeSoto to “feel an urge to ease behind the wheel and drive it.”
“Touch a push button, feel the instant response of a mighty Turbo-Flash V8 engine,” the ad urged. “See the smart new Flair Stream Styling.” The “flair” in Flair Stream came from the big tail fins that were the fashion of the day.
Studebaker’s compact Lark sedan was “completely redesigned” for 1959. It was, the ads said, the “common sense car” that every family could afford. The Lark was supposed to be the money-maker for the company, but its Silver Hawk was the car that was meant to lure buyers into the showroom It also featured tail fins and engine choices ranging from a 90 horsepower six cylinder to a 180 horsepower V8.
The Silver Hawk did bring buyers in, and lots of them drove out in a Lark. Business was good enough to make the 1959 model year Studebaker’s first profitable one in six years. Alas, it was also one of the last.
Down at the Rambler dealership, the 1959 Ambassador Country Club was advertised as the “smartest new luxury car of the year,” but the best sellers were its smaller sedans that were “easy to handle, park, and pay for.” Most competitors, the Rambler ads claimed, were “even longer, wider, heavier, and thirsty for gas,” but Ramblers were “trim and compact” with even better gas mileage than last year’s thrifty models.
American Motors, which made the Rambler, was created when the makers of Nash and Hudson cars merged in 1954. Both of those models had since gone by the wayside. The last Nash and the last Hudson rolled off the assembly line in 1957. That was also the last model year for Packard, which had merged with Studebaker several years earlier.
But there was also a new car in the competition.
In 1959, its second year, the Edsel was “trimmed five inches in length” from the gas guzzling 1958 model, and its “excess weight” was cut by 150 pounds. It was, as its ads said, “priced competitively.” The suggested retail price of a 1959 Ford Fairlane ranged from $2,400 to $3,000, depending on options. The Edsel Ranger, its least expensive model, cost about the same; it’s top-end Citation model ran about $3,600, which was more expensive than a Ford but cheaper than the Buicks and Mercurys and Ambassadors that it was meant to compete with.
But the Edsel still had a front grill that looked like someone sucking on a lemon, and its tail fins didn’t make much of a fashion statement either. Some people suggested that the grill was appropriate; Edsel had acquired a reputation for turning out poorly constructed “lemons.”
The brand staggered through 1959 and 1960, but by then it had guzzled off $250 million from Ford’s bottom line. Enough was enough. Only 2,846 Edsels were produced for the 1960 model year, and even that proved to be too many.
A collection of Jim Bradshaw’s columns, "Cajuns and Other Characters," is now available from Pelican Publishing. You can contact him at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.

Verland A. Barto, 67, a native and resident of Franklin, La. passed away peacefully on Thursday, October 24, 2019 at 3 p.m. surrounded by family and friends.
Visitation will be observed on Saturday, November 2, 2019 from 10 a.m. until funeral services at 1 p.m. at the Lighthouse Missionary Baptist Church, 1110 Barrow Street Franklin, La., with Reverend Allen R. Randle, Officiating. Burial will follow funeral services in the Franklin Cemetery - Main Street in Franklin.
Verland leaves to mourn: her four sons, Gary Barto, Mark Barto and Rodney Barto all of Franklin, La., and Lorenzo Willis of New Iberia, La.; a daughter, Tamara Barto of Franklin, La.; three sisters, Mrs. Leroy (Laura) Washington of Verdunville, La., Mrs. J.C. (Shirley Milton and Mrs. Bobby (Francis) Grimm both of Franklin, La.; one brother, Larry (Greta) Lowe Sr. of Franklin, La.; an aunt, two uncles, sister-in-law; twenty grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and a host nieces, nephews other relatives and friends.
Verland was preceded in death by: her mother, her father, her maternal grandmother, three aunts, an uncle, a sister, and a brother.
Visit www.jones-funeral-home.com to send condolences to family.