Church Point Courir De Mardi Gras
For a truly Cajun, rural Mardi Gras experience, join us in Church Point for a fun-filled, family-oriented Mardi Gras. The Saddle Tramp Riders Club has been putting on the annual Courir de Mardi Gras for over 60 years.
More info, please visit their website at churchpointmardigras.com
What is Mardi Gras?
Mardi Gras is a celebration, known in English as “Fat Tuesday,” where participants celebrate with music, food, drink, and more … before the Lent season begins.
While most people envision Mardi Gras “New Orleans – style“, rural Louisiana celebrations are unique. Mardi Gras participants don costumes and masks and roam the area on horseback. They stop at homes along the way to perform dances in return for a chicken or any other ingredient needed for a Cajun great “gumbo”.
Le Vieux Presbytere
205 Rue Iry Lejeune
Church Point, Louisiana 70525
Le Vieux Presbytere is a one-and-one-half story frame bousillage residence located across from the church square. Open every Saturday from 11am – 2pm or by appointment.
For more about Le Vieux Presbytere CLICK HERE
Church Point Cultural District
Residents of our cultural district can receive a state income tax credit for rehabilitating their property. Quoting from LA State Income Tax Instructions for Schedule F:
Historic Residential – R.S. 47:297.6 allows a refundable credit for the amount of eligible costs and expenses incurred during the rehabilitation of an owner-occupied residential or owner-occupied mixed use structure located in a National Register Historic District, a cultural district, a local historic district, a Main Street District, or a downtown development district. The tax credit is limited to one credit per rehabilitated structure and cannot exceed $18,500 per structure. Taxpayers must apply to the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism, Division of Historic Preservation for certification. A copy of the certification of the credit must be attached to the return.
Please watch the video at the following link for more information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfBUD6RTYBs
Welcome Letter from Harold Fonte, CPCD Liaison
Welcome to the webpage of the Church Point Cultural District! As Liaison for our cultural district I invite you to use this page to learn more about our many cultural and historic places and activities. And then come see us!
Our Cultural District Advisory group is also sharing with our citizens, businesses, and organizations the benefits of available to them through our cultural district. We are also hoping to develop an enterprise zone to aid our local businesses and a historical district to extend its benefits to homeowners to help preserve our unique culture and history. We’d love to hear from you.
Harold Fonte
CPCS Liaison
hjfonte@gmail.com
Buggy Town Playground
Buggy Town Playground, a $125,000 project in 1998 revitalized an old park with state of the art features that beckoned visitors yet cost no public funds.
It was achieved through a suggestion and a focused, energetic volunteer effort.
Opelousas native LeBas was living in Slidell when Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005 and cost him his New Orleans-based business. His family briefly lived in Opelousas, then moved further west to Church Point and decided to sell the home in Slidell and remain. “We just fell in love with Church Point,” LeBas said. “It’s a place where you can walk to church, walk to two schools, to banks, to places to eat.”
Soon, LeBas got involved in local interests and suggested a new playground for the town’s children.Christine Benoit of Farmers’ State Bank and local merchant Nenna Higginbotham, both liked the idea and began to pursue it.
They received a step by step guide from a company called Leathers & Associates. This company has assisted in building playgrounds all over the United States and in other countries as well. Each playground is unique to the culture of the area and the children help design it.”
“Getting people to believe we could do it was definitely part of it,” Benoit said. “How are you going to raise that kind of money? If it’s built, will it be taken care of? But we got great support from people from all walks of life. It amazed me to see everyone coming together.”
Fund-raising grew slowly at first, and then gained momentum with crawfish dinners, golf tournaments and phone calls. A presentation to potential donors resulted in $37,000 in pledges, a big leap in the program’s eventual success.