The 200th birthday celebration is on in St. Martinville.

Residents and visitors watched Saturday morning as local and state officials, dressed like it was 1817, the year the city was founded, relived the historic signing of the articles of incorporation of St. Martinville. There are other bicentennial events scheduled for the rest of the year in the city.

“Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the State of Louisiana, in general assembly convened, that all the portion of land we agreed on shall continue to be known and distinguished by the name of the town of St. Martinville, and all the freeholders and inhabitants residing therein, qualified to vote for members of the House of Representatives of the general assembly of this state,” St. Martin Parish President Guy Cormier, acting as Gov. Jacques Villeré, said during a ceremony Saturday, repeating the words spoken 200 years ago.

“I had a blast. I was born and raised in this community. My dad was born and raised in this community. At the end of the day, that’s what this community is all about. Not the bricks and mortar, but the people,” Cormier said.

Cormier was joined up front by state Sen. Fred Mills, R-Parks, state Rep. Terry Landry, D-New Iberia, and Rep. Mike Huval, R-Breaux Bridge. They portrayed Sen. Nathan Kemper, Rep. Alexander Porter Jr., and Rep. Louis LeBlanc, respectively, in top hats and suits.

St. Martinville Primary School fifth-grade students also participated in the event dressed in casual attire of the period.

The repeat signing took place at the Longfellow-Evangeline Historic Site, an event that was followed by the serving of food, then a choir concert and ecumenical service leading up to a fais-do-do before the scenic park closed at 5 p.m.

The birthday party is far from finished. St. Martinville Mayor Thomas Nelson, who said this past week that St. Martinville is the oldest city west of the Mississippi River, noted there are events planned on the Fourth of July as well as a bicentennial-themed Christmas parade in December.

Also, he said, the Pepper Festival and Boucherie will have bicentennial themes. An ongoing art project, a bicentennial wall, was started Saturday.

“I want to thank everyone for coming here this morning,” Nelson told the large crowd in his welcoming remarks. “As an elected official, I have served one-sixth of those years, but I haven’t thrown in my hat yet.”

What a wonderful time for the city of St. Martinville, our neighbor to the north. Happy birthday.

DON SHOOPMAN

SENIOr NEWS EDIToR