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W e d n e s d ay, s e p t e m b e r 18, 2024
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Coteau Grove plays it forward; gig money goes to charities Coteau Grove is a band that never accepts money for a gig. In fact, the band gives money back to the folks who booked them. Bass player Keith Myers pays the musicians and sound crew to play and rehearse. Myers provides catered meals for rehearsal in a St. Landry Parish cottage-turned-studio known by members as the “Band Cave.” The musicians aren’t newcomers. They are members of the legendary variety band Atchafalaya, along with powerhouse vocalist Sharona Thomas. Herman But Myers and Fuselier Coteau Grove aren’t some cheapskate bar owner’s dream. The band only plays for charities. All proceeds go to the sponsoring organization. Myers doesn’t mind picking up everyone’s tab. LHC Group, the home health care company he co-founded in 1994, was acquired last year by UnitedHealth for $5.4 billion. Music is his way of giving back. “My wife Ginger and I have been blessed beyond imagination. When we show up, nobody pays for anything. The musicians get paid for rehearsals and live performances. We have all of our own PA equipment,” Myers said. “We’re so thankful to be in a position where we can do that. I was raised on a farm in Palmetto. My parents had no money. My dad would make a $50,000 crop loan every year and just hoped he could pay off Washington State Bank at the end.” Myers’ rags-to-bass-strings story goes back to his St. Landry Parish roots, where nuns taught him piano at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Lebeau. At 16, Myers paid $800 for a Fender Precision bass at Jake’s Music Store in Opelousas. He still plays the instrument today. After becoming an avid follower of Atchafalaya, Myers watched every move of the band’s late bass player Cal Arnold. Fast forward to recent years when Myers and Atchafalaya alum David Varisco connected over the notion of putting a band together. Former Atchafalaya members Chris Foreman, Larry Menard and Charlie Rees came on board. “We were blessed with the means to support that band, rather than play nightclubs,” said Myers. “My idea was to play for charities — at no cost — to help them. “Those guys were at a point in life where that was meaningful for them. They didn’t want to tour and do all that. That’s
STAFF PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS
WORLD GOOD As the 2024 Postcard Project wraps up, a look back on state pride, being helpful, Postcrossing and stirring magic
BY JAN RISHER and LAUREN CHERAMIE
A Staff writers
t last count, the 2024 Postcard Project received 272 mailed postcards — from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and 34 other countries. Additionally, readers sent in hundreds of vintage postcards going back as far as 1910. Families had saved those postcards all those years — and someone wanted them to be somewhere they would be valued, an element of the Postcard Project that is in progress. Many postcards are from people whose uncle, mother, cousin or friend shared the details of the project because the project still needed a postcard from Vermont or South Dakota or Oklahoma.
2024 Postcard Project by U.S. state
Newspaper readers sent in postcards from each of the 50 states for the 2024 Postcard Project. The project received only one postcard from 12 states, and 34 from Louisiana. More than 12
9 to 12
5 to 8
2 to 4
1 postcard
WASH. MONT.
VT.
N.D. MINN.
ORE. IDAHO
UTAH
CO.
CALIF.
Oklahoma was the second to last state to arrive by postcard. (Delaware was the last.) A lot of somebodies urged people in Oklahoma to send last-minute postcards — and send them, they did. Katie Goff, in Oklahoma City, received word about the project from
ARIZ.
N.M.
N.Y.
MICH.
NEB.
NEV.
IOWA
PA. ILL.
KAN.
OKLA.
OHIO
IND.
W.V.
MO.
VA.
KY.
R.I. CONN. N.J. DEL. MD.
N.C.
TENN. ARK.
S.C. MISS. ALA.
TEXAS
ME. MASS.
WIS.
S.D. WY.
Oklahoma, in particular
N.H.
GA.
LA.
ALASKA
FLA. HAWAII Staff graphic
her uncle in Baton Rouge. “I am an Oklahoma City native and don’t want to live anywhere else, even though it’s been 100+ degrees all week! I bought this card at the historic First National Building,” Goff wrote. By last count, we got 11 nick-of-time Oklahoma postcards. Seven of them were overnighted to us from Aliza Tomlinson in Collinsville, Oklahoma,
arriving on the Friday before Labor Day. State pride is real, and people can be amazing.
Because someone asked Like Goff and Tomlinson, many others decided to participate because
ä See POSTCARD, page 3G
ä See GROVE, page 3G
The great outdoors Acadiana native stars in a survivalist Netflix competition BY JA’KORI MADISON
vival competition, 16 people are dropped Staff writer off in Alaska, where they will have to outKnown on social media for his Cajun last each other for a talk, elite hog huntchance to win $1 million dollars. ing skills and fishing The first four epiprowess, Carencro Malbrough native Joseph Malsodes of Outlast Seabrough is now taking his tal- son 2 dropped Wednesday. The second half will drop ents to television. Premiering this week, Sept. 11. “Louisiana is called sportsMalbrough is starring in season two of the Netflix show man’s paradise for a reason,” “Outlast.” On this raw sur- Malbrough said. “Some of us
are natural survivalists, and I have loved outdoors since I was kid. I am a true country boy. So this is my element.” Malbrough says he’s always been an adrenaline junkie. “If it isn’t a little scary, then I don’t find any interest,” he said. With more than 15,000 followers on TikTok, Malbrough showcases his adventures
ä See ‘OUTLAST’, page 2G
The ‘greatest little show in the United States’ in … Alexandria? BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer
PROVIDED IMAGE BY MICHAEL D. WYNNE
A lithograph poster for the M.L. Clark and Son’s Circus, which was based in Alexandria
Hurry, hurry, hurry! Step right up to the greatest show on Earth by way of Louisiana. Well, sort of. This “greatest show” actually started in Burleson County, Texas, then anchored itself in central Louisiana while garnering international fame. Not national — international. Which is something that
ä See CURIOUS, page 2G