SEPT/OCT 2 0 1 1 SLEMCOPOWER HAUNTED HOUSES Three Acadiana ghost stories T’Frere’s Bed & Breakfast PAGE 4 SHARE STORIES FROM SLEMCO’S HISTORY PAGE 2 WEATHER EMERGENCIES PAGE 3 HADACOL PAGE 7 PSLEMCO OWER TakeNote Volume 61 No. 5 September/October 2011 The Official Publication of the Southwest Louisiana Electric Membership Corporation 3420 NE Evangeline Thruway P.O. Box 90866 Lafayette, Louisiana 70509 Phone 337-896-5384 www.slemco.com BOARD OF DIRECTORS ACADIA PARISH Merlin Young Bryan G. Leonards, Sr., Secretary ST. MARTIN PARISH William Huval, First Vice President Adelle Kennison LAFAYETTE PARISH Dave Aymond, Treasurer Jerry Meaux, President TELL US YOUR STORIES ABOUT ST. LANDRY PARISH H. F. Young, Jr. Leopold Frilot, Sr. SLEMCO’S EARLY YEARS VERMILION PARISH Joseph David Simon, Jr., LEMCO will celebrate its 75th anni- electric cooperatives. But our history is Second Vice President versary in 2012. If you have any sto- more than mere statistics of numbers Charles Sonnier Sries to share about the early years of served and miles of line. People and their ATTORNEY SLEMCO, we’d love to hear from you. memories, the difference SLEMCO has James J. Davidson, III Since its establishment in 1937, the made in their lives, the service provided EXECUTIVE STAFF Southwest Louisiana Electric Membership in good times and during natural disas- J.U. Gajan Corporation (SLEMCO) has been provid- ter—these are the most important aspects Chief Executive Officer & General Manager ing customers high quality electric service of our shared history. This upcoming Glenn Tamporello at the lowest possible cost. anniversary is the perfect opportunity to Director of Operations George Fawcett What began as a cooperative serving document your stories and preserve them Director of Marketing & Communications 256 customers along 120 miles of new for the future (Lucky Account Number Jim Laque power lines has grown over 74 years to 2038760208). Director of Engineering nearly 97,000 customers in a service area Perhaps you remember stories from Gary Smith Chief Financial Officer that covers over 9,912 miles of line in the early years of SLEMCO serving you or eight parishes. Originally farm-based, your family. Whether you have memories SLEMCO POWER STAFF George Fawcett SLEMCO’s customer base has since to share from the late 1930s and 1940s or Managing Editor expanded to include a mix of suburban something from the present day, please Mary Laurent, CCC, CKAE neighborhoods, commercial businesses call SLEMCO’s Marketing Department at Editor and large industrial users. 337-896-5384 or write us at info@slemco. SLEMCO POWER (USPS 498-720, ISSN Over three-quarters of a century com. If you e-mail, please include your 0274-7685) is published bimonthly by Southwest SLEMCO has grown to become one of the name and a phone number where you can Louisiana Electric Membership Corporation, 3420 NE Evangeline Thruway, Lafayette, nation’s largest and most highly regarded be reached during the day in case we need LA 70509-0866. Periodicals postage paid at more information. Lafayette, LA 70507. We’d also love to see any old pho- POSTMASTER: send address changes to SLEMCO, tos that show SLEMCO employees and P.O. Box 90866, Lafayette, LA 70509-0866. equipment working to serve you or your Cover photo by Mary Laurent with photo- neighbors. illustration by Anne Darrah SLEMCO will be celebrating its 75 years of service to Acadiana throughout 2012 and your stories and photos could play an important role in chronicling that milestone in our history of service, from the first mile of line in 1937 up to the present day. • Page 2 ❘ SLEMCO Power RIDE FOR KIDS 2011 njoy comraderie and a scenic motor- donation for the ride is $35 and several cycle ride when the 2011 Ride For prizes will be awarded to outstanding EKids fundraiser for the Pediatric Brain fundraisers. Tumor Foundation rolls on Sunday, This scenic tour through the country- October 23. side helps to raise funds for research and ENERGY SAVING IDEAS Registration begins at 8 a.m. and closes family support programs assisting children at 9:45 a.m. The escorted ride starts at 10 with brain tumors. CLEANER LAUNDRY a.m., rain or shine, from the SLEMCO For more information concerning the AT LOWER COST headquarters at 3420 NE Evangeline ride, contact Ride for Kids task force leader Thruway in Lafayette. The minimum Bullet McGee at 337-501-2658. • Who says saving energy can’t be easy. According to writer Michael Bluejay, the laundry room is one of the easiest places in the home to cut energy costs (Lucky Account Number 3201493700). According to Bluejay, water heat- ing is responsible for 90 percent of the energy used in washing clothes: you can save a bundle just by changing the temperature setting. At least use cold water for the rinse cycle: he reminds us that warm or Area motorcyclists can join hot water for the rinse cycle won’t get your clothes any cleaner. this year’s Ride for Kids Front loader washing machines on Sunday, October 23, at save energy over top loaders. Top loaders use more water (about 63 SLEMCO headquarters. percent more, Bluejay says), and leave clothes wetter after the spin cycle, requiring more drying time and further increasing energy costs. And speaking of drying, an old- fashioned clothesline can drop those WEB UPDATES DURING WEATHER energy costs to zero. Front loaders cost about $100 more than top loaders, but consum- ers commonly save that much in EMERGENCIES energy in a single year, unless you already use cold water exclusively uring severe weather such as and average less than seven and a hurricanes, you can count on half loads a week, he notes. DSLEMCO to keep you updated Bluejay (as “Mr. Electricity”) on the status of repairs in your offers extensive information on service area. how to save energy in the home SLEMCO customers who at http://michaelbluejay.com/ evacuate will be able to watch the electricity/. His site even provides home page of www.slemco.com for a a Laundry Costs Calculator to help special Emergency News link (Lucky with your energy saving strategy. Account Number 4508136500). Check your SLEMCO bill or the Clicking this Emergency News Rates Comparison page on www. link will take you directly to the slemco.com for the cost per kilowatt latest information on SLEMCO hour to use for your calculations. • power restoration for your locale. • SLEMCO Power ❘ Page 3 GHOSTSTORIES Paranormal is a general term (coined ca. here in Acadiana convinced her that you don’t 1915–1920) that designates experiences that lie have to actually see a ghost to make it angry. outside “the range of normal experience or scientif- ACADIANA HAS ITS SHARE We’ll let her tell this ghost story of Nicholson ic explanation” or that indicates phenomena that OF STORIES OF THE House in her own words. are understood to be outside of science’s current PARANORMAL. ability to explain or measure. –Wikipedia NICHOLSON HOUSE ARE THESE HOUSES WASHINGTON or some of us, ghost stories are Some time ago, I had the opportunity to HAUNTED? READ ON AND more than just the subject of scary visit the Nicholson House, which is located in movies or a source of indelible camp- DECIDE FOR YOURSELF. Washington, La., and was built in the mid-1800s ing memories for youngsters huddled in BY MARY LAURENT (Lucky Account Number 1420625000). tents, with only their flashlights to hold that The first clue that made me suspect the house delightful chill of fear at bay. might be a hot spot (a location with real para- FFor others, experiences outside the normal normal activity) came the moment I stepped or beyond scientific explanation have led to attempts to explain the onto the front porch. A pulling sensation traveled throughout my unexplainable—and obtain evidence of ghosts. And with our fasci- body, as though a magnet lay hidden beneath the porch and my nation with our long and colorful history, it comes as no surprise innards had suddenly turned to metal. Judging from the earnest whis- that Acadiana has its own traditions of spectral residents. pers coming from the rest of the investigation team, I knew they were Deborah LeBlanc is an award-winning author and business experiencing the same phenomenon. We snapped a few pictures of the owner from Lafayette. But the rest of her surrounding area, then made our way to resumé is far from ordinary. A licensed the front door on wobbly legs. death scene investigator, she’s an active The owner was expecting us, so it didn’t member of two national paranormal inves- surprise me when she answered after only tigation teams and has scouted our area one knock. Mildred, dressed in a cornflow- for TV shows featuring the supernatural. er blue housedress and white tennis shoes, She attributes her deep love for storytelling greeted us with a warm smile and after a and the supernatural to her grandmother, short round of introductions, welcomed us who would sit with her and tell tales of into her home. relatives and the paranormal events they The pulling sensation vanished as soon experienced “back in the day.” Like many as I crossed the threshold. Cajuns, LeBlanc’s grandmother was an The house appeared much smaller on animated storyteller who could keep the the inside, with its low ceilings and clutter child on the edge of her seat, waiting for of memorabilia that dated back to the mid the spookiest part of the tale to unfold. ’40s, when Mildred had reigned as the first “I grew up wanting to be just like her,” Miss Louisiana. LeBlanc said.