Nicholls State University - La Pirogue Yearbook (Thibodaux, LA)

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eyxmn rqnereum Anyone venturing to Bayou Lafourche on Aprll 27 would have wondered ebout the exoltenbnt, Students, oled ln Tnehlrte end were cheelng other students. either throwlng them ln the weter or rolllng them on e lerge petch ot dent, muddy ground. People were uelng the Unlverelty Foun- teln to rlnee thelr clothes end heir. And slttlng out ln the mlddle ol Beyou Lelourche. weltlng tor the eterter's gun, westhe reeeonlorellotthle, theoompetl: tors ln the Sprlng Plrogue Recee, Wlth the beyou located ln tront ol the cempue, end the long tredltlon ol reclng plrogum e heblt, lt wee only neturel thet students would devise e wey to hold recee end have e good time by the beyou. Ol course, ee time hee peeeed. the plrogue reoee have changed too, ln the beglnnlng lt wee the Army ROTC compenlee et Nlcholle who competed emongeechotherwhlleetudenteeeton the beyou eldo. Dtetenoee were longer. meeeurlng lnto the mllee. When the ROTC oroqrem wee oheeed out ln 1957, lndeoendent students took over the reoee. The dletenoee hed shrunk oonelderebly lrom when the compenlee would rece from the bndge ln nearby Reoelend to Thlbodeux, elmoet 15 mllee. Eechyeerequeenendhercourtheve been crowned, elthough ln the leet tew yeers the queen hes been crowned ln Bayou Lelourche, e wet ooronetlon. Stlll, lor e number otyeere the ettentlon apotllqht wee on the reoee therneelvee. For the unlnlormed e plrogue le like e dugout or cenoe, except the bottom le rounded endlt ls uneeteloroneormore persons to try to Dedde ln lt. Thle pest sprlng, meny preperetlone weremedelortheeventtuldeydheleet mejor student ectlvlty before tlnel exeme. Kelly Letont end Rlcky Murphy. men cless preeldent end vloe preeldent, were ln charge ot errengements. Competition wee scheduled ln the tol- lowlhg ceteqorleez women'e slnglee, dow bles end releysg men's elnglee, doubles Are t 20 NBYPIDYQPIYJGLEPAGESW end releyeg orgelnlizettoenell recee end Qrlnte, n .' Filret, second end third ldleceltrepttlee were supplied by the Miller Beelr1Go,, while e group ot etudentslhed lulgged tuple b!YOU30bYO9dGQ8!ll'0OkimLD9tG?!DiD9 pertlolpente end A A For the pertlclpente, 1 lp,m, troll-:gg eround on the sunny Tueedey .ee they donned the unltorm not plrogue lreoer, Shorts or cutott le tevorlte jersey or Tsehlet end tennle eheee teptlonell wee the etenderd dreee, Once reclng veete hed been endtheruleereedbyLetont,thefreoee were reedy to begin, At the eeme time spectators were teel: lng morerelexed on thelbeyouelde, 'A The troublemeker not fleet yeer'le freceer sw -fe fr J Nc- A , P.. , 'joe -ff' xt A' f 1 v51.,,,, I qw - :' 9 ' Q A , ,,,, e ,e .N - -. . ,ff lv I , , I' A., 4, . . .v.0, A, ,Q -L W pl , le' .' ' 344. .-. G' ,L 1 gf In t I gy .f'?5:ff:,5i2- , . ,Wy I, A naefv. ,- 'he . ' YN., , - 1 V f fi' fff'-5-, -' rece' K 0- . e - . - er ' . . ,t X 3' x , x 1. fx...-'1,t5,k,:,rTV i4 ii ', rr.-se. Lei, ff. Q40 if Q I 'W Y --up.-vin-1 1 '-A --Qi ,. we eeee ff- ' Tiiliil , . 4 Am -me-iam' g f D MMM - . N ' A1,

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i Pll day would eventually turn to. In 12 hours Eloise had picked up winds of 90 mph and was only 280 miles south of New Orleans. A weakened tropical storm had moved 200 miles overnight and was predicted to strike Louisiana at the mouth ofthe Mississippi River. Activity by the maintenance statt. hurried meetings by the University Dis- aster Committee and idle rumors cre- ated the atmosphere on a day already marked by a gray shrouded sky and uneasy feeling of rain in the air. The Disaster Committee met at 11 a.mi to discuss the situation. Com- muter buses were ordered to bring stu- dents home early. l-ligh winds on the highway along Bayou Lafourche were og 'T' di -'T making driving dangerous, Dorms were boarded up and stu- dents moved into the halls and dou- bled up in some dorms Many floors or groups of residents prepared tor hur- ricane parties. Maintenance workers began board- ing up and taping windows, doors and glass, bringing extra mattresses into the Student Union and rigging up emergency power lights. Regular broadcasting at KVFG-FM, the campus radio station was can- celed and weather reports and inform- ation were broadcast as soon as they were on the UPI teletype, The Disaster Committee met again at 2 p.m. with Hurricane Eloise less than 200 miles from the Louisiana coast. Classes on Tuesday were can- celed. The National l-lurricane Center announced Eloise would turn at the mouth ofthe Mississippi and land along the Gulf Coast. Evacuation operations had already begun for lower Lafourche and Terre- bonne parishes. Students, faculty and Thibodaux City residents had two options: to leave for a safer area or stay until it was over. Hurricane Eloise turned at the mouth of the Mississippi River and made landfall on a stretch of the Flo- rida panhandle between Panama City and Ft. Walton Beach with 750 mph winds and tides eight feet above nor- mal. By noon there were only character- istics of a tropical storm, leaving heavy rains over Chattanooga, Tenn. Dam- age was estimated at 570 million. There was one fatality. Classes resumed at Nicholls Wed- nesday morning. Hurricane Eloise 10

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Bumping into another pirogue, or the sudden movement to avoid hitting a swimmer whose head popped up, result- ing in a swamped pirogue. End of pirogue, end of race. Still, many experienced or careful rac- ers managed to cross the finish line and glide to the pier to come ashore and pick up their trophy. As playful as people get, and the pres- sure of finals only a week away, more than a few people decided to take a dip in the water, taking along a few friends. Lacking a fire truck, ice chests used to keep beer cold were borrowed, along with water from fountain, and that mud- slide was there again. The first couple of victims were treated to more hard ground than mud, but as the water and free-for-all continued, a ACES? nice layer of sticky mud was created. Sometime between the first pirogue race and the first person thrown into the bayou, Kelly Lafont crowned Gayle Echols, a New Orleans junior, as the 1976 Pirogue Queen. Echols was presented with the tradi- tional bouquet of roses and was toasted, along with her court, with a bottle of Strawberry Hill. At least some tradition remained intact. Back at the mudslide, it was discovered if a person were dropped into the bayou lt had to come oll somewhere, and the University Fountain was available. Pranksters dropped people into the fountain to wet them, then rolled them inthe mud. ' When the curious ventured out onto the pier, they paid the price and ended up in the bayou. A four-at- one-time dunking was achieved with one push and a big splash. if 'le V 1- ,. ,. I , U - V . 'l 3 Q V, I- ,:m fEk.an:'-'- 55 Ng ' If ' ss. .nv 5' .. - . 7.. 1- . ' M . 2' Q ff . - V , . , ' -4 .. Y ' tw- ' KW ' K . ,-1' T' F3115 A' N, -4 ' . 'fi' ' I X, x X -...N Xa if Y 5. A 'J . I f . . ' . -7 . - ' A-7 X , 1 , ' . W- x w 4 Bi ' ' N l .. 4' Q x :I ' .: X ' e Q . . f. , . if if ' 57 1 V I 5 I L- . L f '..,4 A' '. .-,. ,.Qz+?ii1'-feet' rr- s. t ,sf J' H-45J?'.iA?Rv?.5?S?- '.,. hi QCZLZQ-+217- ' , ist' i 'f':'?f ev l - 1 if' 'dl' I e wav nn 'Oth-' '71 if 'nl itions, peopl A mud roll can release one's inhib- even to performing a ballet. The relief ol being free from the e throwing others into the ' mud was enough to break into a dance. v 4,19 .,,. i fill, Are These the PIROGUE A Inga. ' -,,.. -r ,ii I .rf .,,, 3. '.5.-wg Q, .uf .Fl . L ,M M6 :ff '-T f itz F fic