The Center of Faith // St. Elizabeth
By Chakyra Butler, Staff Writer In Paincourtville, about five miles away from Grand Bayou, stands a brick, Gothic-style Catholic church with twin towers. St. Elizabeth Church has been the religious center of the area, including Grand Bayou, for more than 100 years. “It is still just so special,” says Jessica Rousseau Baye, a Grand Bayou […]
Work // Making a Living
By Emilee Theriot, Staff Writer Grand Bayou was once the home to a thriving business community including a saw mill, a cotton gin, a broom factory, a moss gin, a country store, a dance hall and a barber shop, according to the Assumption Pioneer and documents written by former resident Hazel Aucoin. Growing up, Aucoin […]
Food // A Family Centerpiece
By Jade Gallaher, Staff Writer Food in Grand Bayou was not only the center of family gatherings but was also a celebration of the land where they lived. “I can remember for years and years, my mom and her sisters would get together every year and would get several sacks of crawfish and make crawfish […]
Betty Crochet Breland
Current Hometown: Belle Chasse While Breland was born in Grand Bayou in 1938, her family moved away when she was an infant. But she visited her grandmother in Grand Bayou frequently. Favorite Thing to Do Get on my grandmother’s porch with my crawfish net and catch crawfish off of the porch during high water. Favorite […]
Clarence “Bud” Rousseau
Current Hometown: Thibodaux Rousseau grew up in Grand Bayou with his family on the same property as his grandfather and extended family. His grandfather was a moss picker and he traded his land on Bayou Corn for the land on Grand Bayou to be closer to his job at the moss gin. Favorite Thing to […]
David Schexnaydre
Current Hometown: Prairieville Schexnaydre’s mother was from Grand Bayou and he visited almost every weekend. Favorite Thing to Do Just go visit all my kin people and play out in the country. Favorite Memory Chatting with all my uncles cause they were some characters. And probably one of the funniest things was always chatting with […]
Donna Booty
Current Hometown: Plattenville Booty, whose mother grew up in Grand Bayou, was the first grandchild of the Dupre family that owned the grocery store by the bridge. Favorite Thing to Do I used to love to go to the store. The house was right next to the store. We were always in the store visiting. […]
Greg Leblanc
Current Hometown: Pierre Part Leblanc is from Grand Bayou and, as he says, “In fact I never really left Grand Bayou you could say because my mother and father still lived there until they were displaced.” Favorite Thing to Do All my life was hunting and fishing. I’ve always been there, I’ve always hunted and […]
Joey Dupre
Current Hometown: Belle Rose Dupre grew up in Grand Bayou and lived there for more than 20 yeras. Favorite Thing to Do Probably fishing because the bayou was 100 foot from our house. We had that, and we had a little pond, which was a 200-300 yard walk from there, so we fished a lot […]
Judy Rousseau Clark
Current Hometown: Labadieville Clark grew up in Grand Bayou and lived there until she was 19 years old. Favorite Thing to Do My favorite thing to do was swimming with friends in the bayou. Favorite Memory Swimming in Grand Bayou with friends and family. Most Missed I miss the closeness of the community. Grand Bayou […]