Bogalusa Daily News Online -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 7/9/2004
Last Visited: 7/10/2004
BY HENRY HARRISONCONTRIBUTING WRITER
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A humble group of visionaries on May 18, 1983, met with county agent Harrison to address the issue of promoting their watermelon crops.Those growers that met with agent Harrison were Neil Ledet, Daniel Gill, Ed Ladner, Walter Pierce, Prentiss Pierce, C. L. Williams, Will Smith, Donald Painter, Marcus Thomas, Dr. Gerald Geisler (AgCenter marketing specialist), and Brian Kelly (produce broker of Oak Grove, Louisiana).
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Agent Harrison agreed to help the group establish a summer event for parish families and others with a watermelon festival in July-- the weekend after the 4th --- to celebrate the crop.
The festival organization has gone through many changes, and today for this year's festival, only Robbie Thomas, along with Harrison, remain from the founding group, with Thomas coming on later in 1983.