Meeting a Legend
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Day 4: April 23, 2024 Meeting a Legend Comment via blog |
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Fred Zander and I stopped here
following the 2019 JHA
conference in Natchitoches but we did not get inside. Knowing that the
2024 Sociability Caravan would include a tour inside caught my interest.
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The Shreveport Municipal Auditorium was home to the Louisiana Hayride from
1948 through 1960. It is still an active concert venue today and looks
much like it did during its Hayride days.
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An opportunity to see inside the auditorium got me interested in the
pre-conference caravan but it was the chance to meet the subject of one of
those two statues in front of the building that clinched the deal. The
James
Burton Foundation is headquartered right across the street from the
auditorium and today James himself was waiting inside to greet us. James
has played guitar with pretty much everyone you can think of and probably
deserves some of the credit for making stars out of Elvis Presley and
Ricky Nelson.
The Foundation building is chock full of awards and guitars and it is pretty obvious that quite a few of those guitars get used now and again. Here's a better look at the lights that help illuminate the display areas. After a group conversation, the crowd sort of disperses throughout the building while James and his wife Louise relax just a little. |
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At our next stop, the historic buildings of downtown Grand Cane face the
Jefferson Highway.
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Lunch was at the former Mansfield Female College which operated between
1854 and 1930. As we ate, we were treated to some local history by long
time resident George Gilmer.
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The Mansfield Civil War Battlefield and this monument to Prince de
Polignac of France, was a popular stop for early Jefferson Highway
travelers.
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Another popular Civil War related stop was at the Pleasant Hill
Battlefield. This cabin is the only building remaining from that time.
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At the Marthaville General Store, Bill Johnson found a couple cars of a
similar age to park his 1955 wagon between.
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The day's last stop was on the campus of Northwestern State University
which once served as a tourist camp.
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