Dorcheat Historical Association & Museum, Inc. In Minden, Louisiana: Louisiana Travel Writers Come To Town

Welcome To The Minden, Louisiana's Dorcheat Museum Blog

Thank you for visiting the Dorcheat Historical Association and Museum Blog. The Dorcheat Historical Museum is the only museum inside the city limits of Minden, Louisiana. The museum opened June 10th, 2008. Admission Free with donations welcomed. Our hours are, Tuesday - Friday from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., closed for lunch from 1 p.m. - 2 p.m., open again from 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday we are closed but open by appointment for special showings and meetings. We would like to invite you to visit our location at 116 Pearl Street in Minden, Louisiana. We look forward to sharing our history with you. For more information please contact museum director Schelley Brown Francis at 318-377-3002 or 318-423-0192.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Louisiana Travel Writers Come To Town

The Dorcheat Historical Association Museum was the gathering place for a Sunday breakfast hosted by Travel Host Magazine of Shreveport on November 20^th, 2011. A group of nine Louisiana Travel writers were guest at the museum on Sunday morning for a wonderful breakfast prepared by Mrs. Charlotte Martin. Main Street Coordinator; Pattie Odom and Tourism Director; Lynn Dorsey were in charge of the days agenda which started at the museum for breakfast and a tour. After a guided tour of the museum by museum director Schelley Brown Francis the group was then taken on a driving tour of Minden’s Historic Residential District by Francis. Around noon the group toured Minden’s Main Streets for a little shopping and a trip to Minden’s Art on Main Studio.

Travel writers often come in groups to our area to see what kinds of interesting things are going on in different parts of the state. This is a tourism based group so this is a great way for Minden to show what we have to offer in our area. Can’t wait to see what great stories come out of their visit!

Recipes and History

Our Fourth
Cookbook Is HERE!
Acknowledgments
As spokesperson for the museum, I would like to thank the
contributors to this cookbook for the wonderful recipes and stories. This book
is dedicated to those that remember fondly "The good ole days of shopping
and eating along the Main Streets of small town America and the local entrepreneurs
that operated these establishments." When you think of your youth, you
think of soda fountains, home delivered groceries and the local families that
worked or owned these small stores and restaurants. With those memories we
remember meals shared at the local Drive-In or Sunday dinners. We carry these
precious memories with us, even when our small town life seems to disappear and
many of those store fronts are torn down, faded and worn with time.
I would like to recognize Brian Carlisle for his design work
along with John Agan for his historic knowledge, folk artist Cora Lou Robinson
for the cover art, and the Wise Family for the Wise Family recipes. Their
talents made this more than a cookbook. I especially thank the advertisers for
making this book possible!
We have saved a part of history with these memories. Many will
never know about the old time country stores that we remember as children. We
are the lucky ones we can be brought back to these places in our minds with
just a simple smell in the air, a faded sign on the side of an old building or
a favorite recipe.
The proceeds of this book will be used to help us expand our
museum by purchasing and renovating the building next door! We thank you for
your support in this effort. For information call 318-377-3002. Donations may
be mailed to P.O. Box 1094, Minden, Louisiana 71058. Please visit us at 116 Pearl Street, Minden, Louisiana or
www.musueminminden.blogspot.com we are also on Facebook.
Sincerely,
Schelley Brown Francis
Director of the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum, Inc.

GIVE A GREAT GIFT AND HELP THE MUSEUM TOO!
The New Cookbook Is Here!

Act Fast Because They Will Not Last Long!
So Come Get Your Copies Soon!

$20 Per Book Plus $5 Shipping and Handling
Make Checks Payable To:
The Dorcheat Museum
P.O. Box 1094
Minden, LA 71058
or come by the museum and pick your copies up today for $20 each!

Limited Edition Cora Lou Robinson

The Dorcheat Museum will be offering a limited edition print of an original painting by folk artist Cora Lou Brown Robinson. This print will be an 11 x 14 for $25 plus $5.00 for shipping and handling. We will also offer a 20 x 24 canvas reproduction Giclée for $175. Don’t miss your opportunity to have a piece of 1950’s memories of Minden in your home. Mail your payment to Dorcheat Museum P.O. Box 1094 Minden, La. 71058. For more information call Schelley Brown at 318-423-0192.
Cora Lou Brown Robinson and Hunter’s Playhouse
Known to most simply as “Cora Lou", this Minden native and resident is recognized for not only her talents as a professional folk artist but also as a teacher, wife, mother, grandmother and true product of a deep -rooted Minden family. Born in 1935 to Ed and Celeste Brown, Cora Lou has two siblings--one brother, Ed Brown and one sister, Mary Celeste Powers. Cora Lou is married to Ronald Robinson. They have three children and seven grandchildren.
Her childhood was what she calls “picture perfect.". She played from morning ’til night with the neighborhood children. Their lives followed a pattern. During the week they went to school, and each Saturday morning they listened to “Let’s Pretend” on the radio and that afternoon would walk to the “picture show” and then walk safely home. Each Sunday they went to Sunday school and then to church. She remembers the thrill of chasing lightning bugs at dusk while all the neighborhood parents sat outside and visited on their front porch. It was a simpler time in Minden, Louisiana, and for many of the people that grew up here.
Her teenage years were wonderful in part due to the generosity of the Hunter family. The Hunter family has owned the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Minden since 1901. Back in the 1940s the Hunters became the recreation hub for all of Minden and the surrounding area. Everyone swam in their pool, played in their playground, danced in their playhouse, and watched countless ballgames in their park. No other town has ever seen the likes of the Hunter family in Cora Lou’s eyes. The 1940s, 50s and early 60s were a special time in Minden, Louisiana because of the generosity of Gladys and Larry Hunter. Cora Lou’s love of the special times and memories of the 1950s and Hunter’s Playhouse is depicted in one of her first paintings of a dance at the Playhouse.
Cora Lou Brown Robinson says her paintings are about “God and Country, Family, and Friends.” Many of her ideas for her paintings come from her childhood and all come from her heart. Her paintings have been featured all across the United States and no one appreciates her more than her hometown and what she does for them by creating their memories on canvas.
The following is taken from the “Memories of Hunter’s” book

Memories are precious, yet hard to express
A golden moment, suspended in a capsule waiting to come again---but never will
A safe haven in the storm of today
A part of time so dear and so wondrous--one would have to have lived it to fully understand it
A slice of life we wanted our children to experience--but they did not
A time almost pure if compared to today’s lifestyles
Something we can almost hold in our hands, yet not grasp
A man and a woman so totally dedicated to young people that they made them their life
Our own youth and innocence ---only a yesterday away
------Cora Lou Robinson
This project to benefit the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum is sponsored by Ben and Linda Hunter, Cora Lou Robinson, Easley’s Fine Arts, Dr. and Mrs. Edward Brown, Gibsland Bank and Trust, Ann Mays Harlan, Steve G. Kirkikis, M.D., Earlene Mendenhall Lyle, Richard Campbell D.D.S. (Dr. Feelgood), A. Loye & Peggy W. Jone

For More Cora Lou Robinson Information and Prints go to http://www.coralourobinson.blogspot.com/

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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Louisiana Travel Writers Come To Town

The Fourth Museum Cookbook Is Here

The Back Cover

Recipes and History

Hunter's Playhouse

Limited Edition Cora Lou Robinson