Doirons take Starks

                   Last summer my sister and I reconnected to Louisiana Doirons at a family reunion. Since I hadn’t seen them in years, I kind of forgot this branch was Pentecostal. The Texas branch was raised Catholic. They welcomed us with joy. But this year I wore a floral dress instead of the denim shorts I had before. They loved on me again. I even got a cemetery tour.

                   A week before I met a woman from Starks and I told her I was headed that way. We got excited and loud.

“I’m going to Starks!” I exclaimed.

“Where is the reunion?” she queried.

“At the Pentecostal Church” I said. all loud like.

“Which one?” she shot back, even louder.

I looked perplexed. She belly laughed at my expression. I know Starks is a small town, but they’ve got TWO Pentecostal churches?

            I found where I was supposed to be, then drove around town. At Dress Like an Angel, I mentioned why I was visiting and a woman said she’d just driven past First Pentecostal and it looked like people were arriving. Got to love those small town connections. More Starks Road Trip highlights here:

·       My old gumbo pot still faintly reads DOIRON in a neat lettering my mother made with Magic Marker in the ‘70s. Good job, Mom, that pot went to countless parties and always got back to you. This time ALL the plates, cups and coolers were all marked DOIRON. There were also LSU serving pieces.

·       Style note: I admired a vintage blue bauble on a relative’s top. She’ fashioned ‘50s era earrings into a new use by clipping them over the neckline.

·       A hostess gifted me a tea-filled mug adorned with pink roses. She asked if I could read the French. De La Feté donne Par La Ville de Paris. She offered me a “life of the party” translation. Fascinated, I later researched the phrase referring to a city holiday in order of a royal wedding or national affair. A related artwork  portrays air balloons decorated with men on horseback floating above the city. That notion makes my tea fancy.

·       Relatives told me they shop for groceries in Orange, as it’s the closest store. When I enjoyed leftovers later, I reflected that ingredients were purchased in Texas, assembled in Louisiana, and sent back home to me in Texas.

·       Dress Like an Angel is a big ol’ fashion shop with a big, big ol’ chandelier. Anyone will tell you there are plenty of churches in the area and there must be an outfit from this place in every pew come Sunday. I asked about chocolate chip cookies by the counter. The pastor’s wife of the church across the street makes them. Saleswomen pointed to Calvary Apostolic Church. We chatted and it turns out both women working the store hailed from Port Arthur.

·       The dress shop women did mention that this area is not as Cajun as people in Lafayette. I asked what they were and one described the area as a “no man’s land” of folks maybe hiding out from the law and that’s why there are so many name variations from this locale. She hastily added that it’s not that way anymore and there are many churches in the Starks area.

 

Wrapping up the day: The relatives loaded me up with leftovers at the end and I turned the car toward Texas. My next stop was Delta Downs, where I read a book until it was time for Catholic Mass in Vinton. Now those are some things that branch of Doirons would probably not do at all. But I turned out okay.

 

I attended Mass at St. Joseph's Church in Vinton, Louisiana. They announced we would pray for hurricane protection. I looked around for the prayer card. This congregation recited it from memory. While there may be variations, areas of Southeast Texas and Louisiana include thoughts such these:

We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control: the Gulf of Mexico, like a provoked and angry giant, can awake from its sleep, overstep its conventional boundaries, invade our land and spread chaos and disaster.

During this hurricane season we turn to You, O loving Father. Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with passing of time. O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our Beloved Mother, we ask you to plead with your Son on our behalf, so that spared from the calamities common to this area and animated with a true spirit of gratitude, we will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son to reach the heavenly Jerusalem where a stormless eternity awaits us.

 

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie with Cajun roots. Let the good times roll with her by sharing foodie tales via panews@panews.com