Harlan Kirgan
About 200 elementary school students listened to Julie Fontenot Landry, daughter of Clovis Crawfish author Mary Alice Fontenot, read “Clovis Crawfish and Batiste Bête Puante” Monday in the Liberty Theater.
The Clovis Crawfish stories came to life when Fontenot was a teacher at St. Edmund Elementary School.
So, Clovis Crawfish is a product of Eunice.
Earlier this year, Alderwoman Connie Thibodeaux moved to make have Eunice designated as “Home of Clovis Crawfish.”
The Board of Aldermen agreed and resolved to ask Gov. John Bel Edwards and the Legislature to make the Clovis home official.
Before Landry began her reading, Mayor Scott Fontenot said, “This is something historically great for our city.”
A statue of Clovis Crawfish is planned for Eunice next year as a centerpiece in the city’s 125th year anniversary.
The Clovis series and Mary Alice Fontenot are about as Eunice-based as it can get.
Fontenot, who lived from April 16, 1910, to May 12, 2003, was a journalist for The Eunice News before teaching and becoming an author.
Another Eunice resident, Reginald Keller, illustrated the first book.
And, the statue is to be based on Keller’s depiction of Clovis Crawfish.
Thibodeaux said at a July city meeting that Landry and Pelican Publishing have agreed to let the city use the image of Clovis Crawfish.
Landry, a retired educator, now lives in California, but grew up in Eunice from the age of 2 and considers the city “home.”
The stories developed from her mother’s teaching experiences at St Edmund, she said.
“Every now and then boys came to school with critters to scare girls,” she said. “She started making up stories about the little critters to calm everybody down.”
Clovis Crawfish was “... literally started in the St. Edmund kindergarten.”
There were messages in the stories.
“One theme is that diversity is a good thing because the creatures are all different kinds of animals and they have to learn to get along just like the skunk in this story is an outcast, but he has value and can be everybody’s friend,” she said after reading “Clovis Crawfish and Batiste Bête Puante.”
The stories usually touched on science such as one book about a hummingbird dealing with a snowstorm in March, she said.
The stories also taught French. Later books in the series would provide a pronunciation guide.
Landry and other family members have been involved in the series, which is also published in French language editions.
Landry has translated the books into French and wrote songs.
“Mama liked to spread out and get as many family members as possible involved,” she said.
The time the students spent at the Liberty Theater wasn’t wasted, said Mary Ellen Donatto, a St. Landry Parish School Board member and retired Eunice principal.
“I know there was some concern,” she said about students being out of class.
“What is happening now in education is ... children are reading real literature and the skills are built on real literature,” Donatto said.
Reading Clovis Crawfish stories fits into the state guidelines, she said.
Donatto added, “Wait until they unveil that crawfish statue. These children who came to this they are going to remember that they took part in this and they were told that this big crawfish is going to be unveiled.”