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Susan Evangeline Walker Anding, was a leader in the woman’s suffrage movement who wanted more than just a vote. She also demanded a voice in public affairs, which she got and used well.

She was a tireless promoter of good roads and led projects that included the creation of the Louisiana Blood Bank, but her lasting legacy may be that she was one of the first and most effective advocates, decades before the so-called Cajun renaissance of the 1970s, in a movement to raise the image and self-esteem of the Acadians of south Louisiana.

A big piece of that legacy is in the monument she dreamed up: The Longfellow-Evangeline State Park, the first state park in Louisiana.

Remarkably, Susan was not of Acadian ancestry. She was born March 16, 1878, in Opelousas, the oldest of six children of Samuel R. Walker and Mary Elizabeth Boagni.

She was christened Susan Eliza Walker, but she became so enamored with Longfellow’s tale of the Acadian exile that she changed her middle name to Evangeline and used Longfellow’s heroine to promote her many projects.

She was educated in Opelousas schools, at St. Mary’s Academy in San Antonio, and the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau.

She married Allen Astor Anding on New Year’s Eve 1898, and was the mother of five daughters and a son: Mamie (1901), Eleanor (1903), Susie (1906), Constance (1907), Pearl (1909) and Allen (1910).

Even while raising that sizable family, as historian W. Fitzhugh Brundage points out in a book about people who helped maintain cultural identities in the South, “she earned a regional reputation as an irrepressible promoter.” (Where These Memories Grow: History, Memory, and Southern Identity, University of North Carolina Press, 2000).

She was a tireless advocate for good roads and represented five governors (Luther Hall, Ruffin Pleasant, John Parker, Henry Fuqua, and Huey Long) at national conventions of the Good Road Association, which was organized in 1900 to promote a national highway system. Because of that pioneering work, she was the first woman named to the association’s board.

She came up with the idea of establishing a monument to the Acadians in 1925. She thought St. Martinville was the right spot for it, not coincidentally, according to Brundage, because the town was included in a system of national highways that she was promoting.

She used what Brundage called “uncanny promotional skills” to coax “newspaper editors, public officials, and members of the Acadian, Anglo, and Creole elite of southwestern Louisiana” to join her Longfellow-Evangeline Association, urged schoolkids to contribute pennies to a construction fund, and cajoled anyone who would listen into backing her idea.

Her most-remembered, and perhaps most effective, idea was to use young ladies dressed in the “charming costumes of the period when Evangeline lived” to evoke the drama and romance of the Acadian tale.

She chaperoned a group of “Evangeline Girls” to both the Republican and Democratic national conventions in 1928, and took them to Washington in 1929 for the inauguration of President Herbert Hoover, gaining attention for the national park that she wanted.

But then Susan’s health began to fail. She’d been injured in an automobile accident, then some of the wind was taken from her sails by the death of her husband.

Even so, she did not allow her dream to die. She was there when the Longfellow Evangeline Memorial State Park was dedicated 80 years ago, on Saturday, Oct. 23, 1937.

It was not the national park that she’d hoped for, but over the years it has helped to accomplish the goal she set — recognition across the nation of the people and culture represented by Longfellow’s
Evangeline, the heroine she loved and whose name she adopted.

Susan died on Feb. 19, 1948, and is buried in the St Landry Catholic Cemetery in Opelousas.

Her legacy, Brundage says, is that she “wed the relentless boosterism of the era with the emerging interest in promoting Acadian self-esteem.

She prodded Acadians and non-Acadian sympathizers to organize and present their collective history in new ways and to new audiences.”
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.

June 27, 1951 – October 18, 2017
Funeral services will be held Monday, October 23, 2017, at the Church of the Assumption in Franklin during an 11 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial for Theresa Miciotto Trahan, who passed away at the age of 66 in the early morning hours of Wednesday, October 18, 2017, at University Health in Shreveport. Following the Mass, Theresa will be laid to rest in the Franklin Cemetery Garden Mausoleum #4. Father Cedric Sonnier will be the Celebrant for the Mass and conduct the services. Serving as pallbearers will be Nathan Fangue, Chad Fangue, Daniel Rowe, Greg Pellerin, Kenny Pellerin, Scott Pellerin, Arthur Louviere, and Ryan Louviere. Honorary pallbearers will be RJ Trahan, Anthony Fangue, Ricky Pellerin, and Steven Segura.
A gathering of family and friends will be held Sunday, October 22, 2017, at Ibert’s Mortuary in Franklin from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m., with the Holy Rosary being prayed at 7 p.m. Visitations will resume at Ibert’s on Monday morning at 8 a.m. and continue until time of dismissal at 10:30 a.m.
Theresa was born on June 27, 1951, the younger of two children born to the late Salvador “Savy” Miciotto and the late Josephine Barone Miciotto. She was a native and former longtime resident of Franklin and has resided in Shreveport - Bossier City for the past 12 years. Theresa had a quiet nature about her and always had a smile on her face. She was a huge Saints fan, enjoying watching the games and going often to the Saints Training Camp to meet the players. She also enjoyed spur of the moment road trips with her daughter, Josie, which often included anything to do with the Saints, going to concerts, and visiting distant family members. But her passion in life was definitely spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren.
Those Theresa leaves to cherish her memory include her husband of 31 years, Ronald J. Trahan Sr.; her children, Stephanie Borne Rowe and her husband Daniel, Melissa Borne Fangue and her husband Chad, Ronald J. “RJ” Trahan Jr., and Josephine “Josie” Trahan; her grandchildren, Sarah Rowe, Nathan and Anthony Fangue, and Landon and Layah Borne; her father-in-law, Carroll J. Trahan Sr.; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, family members, and friends.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her son, Freddy Allen Borne; her sister, Mary Ann Miciotto Pellerin; and her mother-in-law, Lena May Darcey Trahan.
Family and friends may view the obituary and express their condolences online by visiting www.iberts.com.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Ibert’s Mortuary, Inc., 1007 Main Street, Franklin, La. 70538, (337) 828-5426.

MAYS LANDING, N.J. (AP) — Cheryl Farley was so convinced she would die by the time she was in her 70s that she already made arrangements for her house, assets and final wishes.
With a family history of premature death, which she relates to disease and weight-related conditions, Farley, 58, of Mays Landing, thought she would follow in the footsteps of her late mother, father and brother.
But in early 2016, Farley said she took a hard look at her health, heavy weight and lifestyle and became determined to beat the family odds, dropping more than 130 pounds in the first year and a half.
As health experts link obesity to more diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease, some people like Farley are drastically changing their lifestyles with exercise and nutrition to avoid medical procedures, pain, medications, health risks and a life cut short.
“My life is completely different now,” she told The Press of Atlantic City. “I want to live a long time, and I got tired of taking all the medications and being in pain.”
Nearly 28 adults per every 100 people are overweight or obese in New Jersey, according to an August Trust for America’s Health report. The state’s rate ranks low among all others, but experts say it is still growing.
In addition to common weight-related conditions like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and hypertension, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that overweight and obesity are associated with increased risk of 13 types of cancers.
Experts found that those cancers, including multiple myeloma, thyroid, gallbladder, stomach, liver, pancreatic, liver, ovarian, colon and others, accounted for about 40 percent of all cancers diagnosed in the United States in 2014.
About 630,000 people in the country were diagnosed with a cancer associated with overweight and obesity in 2014, the majority of which were among adults ages 50 to 74, according to a CDC report released Thursday.
Farley said before February 2016, she was taking 12 different medications for Type 2 diabetes, cholesterol, inflammation, her thyroid and depression, among other conditions. She went to bed and woke up most days in pain, especially in the knee where she had a replacement several years ago.
She got inspired to make big changes in her life through a wellness program at her workplace, Wawa, and set out to find a trainer that would design a personalized exercise and nutrition plan for her physical and medical goals.
“All the exercise plans we do are individualized,” said Joseph LaCerra, Farley’s trainer and owner of Hometown Health and Fitness in Mays Landing. “For Cheryl, because she had a knee replacement, we needed to work on how to move properly and safely first.”
This was the fourth gym and trainer Farley tried, which led to frustration, she said. LaCerra said not finding the right person and wellness plans could serve as barriers for someone pursuing a healthier lifestyle, especially when medical conditions may be involved and a customized routine is necessary.
Farley said she eventually felt comfortable enough with LaCerra to tell him about all the medications she was taking for various weight-related conditions, and that made it easier for him to create exercise routines and nutrition guidance that would work for her body as well as her goals.
Since her lifestyle changes, Farley doesn’t wear her knee brace anymore, because she’s no longer in pain and because it no longer fits her slimmer leg.
Last month, her doctor took her off the last of her medications as her body and mind didn’t need them anymore. Whereas doctors had previously encouraged her to get weight-loss surgery, Farley said she’s no longer a viable candidate.
Farley meets with LaCerra three times a week to work on exercise and nutrition. She has tried almost every group fitness class at the gym at least once and no longer stands in the back in baggy shifts that hide her frame.
Instead of having all those plans for her belongings when she’s gone, Farley said, “Now, I’ve created a bucket list. Things that I never thought I’d be able to do, that I want to do. I’m so excited about what the future has, and my family is so impressed with what I’ve done.
“I’m having more fun in my life than I’ve had in the last 30 years. I just need to keep moving.”