FIREMAN'S FAIR

Rae Thibodaux (left), 10, and Cierra Navarre, 6, of Thibodaux ride the “Kite Flyer” Thursday at the Thibodaux Firemen’s Fair.

Threat of rain doesn’t dampen fair’s first night

Perry PitreCorrespondent
Published: Friday, April 30, 2010
THIBODAUX — Rain forecast for the weekend didn’t dampen the first night of the Thibodaux Firemen’s Fair, which drew crowds that packed the fairgrounds Thursday evening. The annual fundraiser for the Thibodaux Volunteer Fire Department runs through Sunday at the Firemen’s Fairgrounds on Tiger Drive.
The Fire Department could not provide a figure for estimated attendance on opening night, but a police officer at the event guessed the crowd was better than 2,000.
Alice Dupre of Thibodaux, whose daughter’s home is in prime parking area along Tiger Drive, is used to the throngs of cars and trucks that show up for the fair.
“We get a lot of vehicles,” Dupre said from her daughter’s front yard. “If it’s busy, Tiger Drive doesn’t stop. There’s no use going all the way to the fair, cause those places are all taken up already. You never know, though, if the weather is bad, it could be slow.”
With the chance of rain forecasted to go from 30 percent on Friday to 80 percent on Sunday, wary eyes were cast upward as gray clouds rolled in around sunset.
“Those aren’t clouds,” Joseph Ayo, Fire Department president joked, “That’s smoke coming from the burns in the Gulf.”
Fire Chief Mike Naquin said despite the effort firefighters put into getting a wide array of bands, rides and food, fickle weather is always a concern. “If it rains, we’re not going to have as good a fair as if the weather was nice,” Naquin said. “But I’m not even looking at the weather. I’m looking at it like we’re going to have a good fair, we’re going to have a good night tonight, and not have any problems. You can’t do anything about it, so you might as well make the best of it.”

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