Paul Harvey stop one of many for big names at festival

BY WILL CHAPMAN
Published/Last Modified on Friday, April 3, 2009 2:09 PM CDT

While recently deceased, nationally known radio broadcaster Paul Harvey was famous for his “rest of the story” line in his broadcasts, it’s taking a while for the rest of the story of his visit or visits to New Iberia to be revealed.

I’ve shared in previous Sweet Talks recollections of two Iberians who recalled different visits by Harvey to the area.

Another local has weighed in with his recollection. Jimmy Mestayer’s memory is that Harvey visited in the early 1960s, and he too believes it was in conjunction with the Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival. Jimmy says the festival frequently had big-name speakers make appearances in those days and recalls Harvey being one of them.

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Jimmy thinks the speech might have been at a luncheon at the Veterans Memorial Building but wasn’t sure.

Jimmy said he thinks another year the speaker was either Eddie Rickenbacker, the famed “ace” fighter pilot, or Jimmy Doolittle, another famous flier, especially known for the Doolittle Raid on Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

While thinking of famous people who’d visited the area, Jimmy recalled he saw the famous actor Erroll Flynn in New Iberia once, promoting the sale of war bonds.

I did a quick check on the Web and discovered that Flynn was not an American, but was a native of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, a long way from Hollywood where he made his mark in the 1930s and ’40s.

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My wife, Gladys, had a birthday yesterday, and while celebrating it I was reminded of an incident involving her birthday a few years back, when she several times in the days leading up to her birthday made some comment about her age, and each time understated it by a year.

I thought she was just being cute (she is cute!) and making a joke, cutting that year off, but after hearing this understatement several times, I asked her if she was serious, and reminded her what year she was born and suggested, “Do the math.”

She got a sheepish grin on her face when she realized she had inadvertently cut off a year.

At the same time, I’d offer, when you’re just 39, what’s another year?

And indeed she is MUCH younger than I am.

Happy birthday honey!

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Easter’s just more than a week away and I’ve noticed the Easter candies and baskets and such available at several local stores.

It’s my impression not so many people dye and hide real eggs any more, with most of the eggs hidden and given these days being the colorful plastic variety.

It was fun dyeing the eggs back in the day, getting the color kits and using that spoon-shaped wire to dip your boiled egg into the dye. Solid colors were no big deal, and with a bit of effort, you could dye one half one color and the other half another.

Most every time, I’d try to get creative and see if I couldn’t manage still other combinations, maybe trying for a third dip into the dye, but my memory says those never looked too appetizing.

I think with dyeing eggs, simple is better.

WILL CHAPMAN is publisher of The Daily Iberian.

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