CELEBRATING FRENCH IN CAPE

Bill Davis and his daughter, Claire, of Cape Girardeau visited the Reynolds House on Monday during La Fete Francaise. Claire tried her hand at using tools which are about as old as the Reynolds House, built in 1857.

Those who waited on the banks of the Mississippi may have felt propelled back 200 years as French fiddlers played and Don Louis Lorimier and his wife Charlotte arrived in a canoe.

A large group of Northern Cherokees in traditional dress waited for the reenactors portraying Cape Girardeau's founding couple. The arrival kicked off Monday's La Fete Francaise French Heritage celebration.

The celebration was sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau. An estimated 200 people watched the Lorimier reenactment.

Local residents Jesse Perry and Sue Paxton played the parts of the famous couple. Perry was dressed in animal skins and carried a flint lock rifle. Paxton, who has Native American ancestors, said Lorimier's wife was one-half Shawnee.

The members of the Northern Cherokee nation also wanted to be as authentic as possible. Timexx Rainwater (Seabaugh) and seven other members of his family joined other local nation members for the reenactment.

"Some of our family ancestors actually met Lorimier near this location in 1792," he said. "There were many Cherokees in this area then."

The festival began with an opening ceremony at Southeast Missouri State University's Crisp Hall. Two lectures on French heritage followed. A lecture by O. David Niswonger on "The Fleur de Lis" was attended by over 100 people.

In the afternoon, a "French Influences" tour allowed the public to visit Cape Girardeau historic attractions, including the Glenn House, Old St. Vincent's Church, the Cape River Heritage Museum, Old Lorimier Cemetery, Capaha Park Rose Garden, and the Reynolds House.

Barbara Port, a member of the Cape Girardeau Historic Preservation Commission, said the Reynolds House, built in 1857 and located on Main Street, is the only French-style house still standing in Cape Girardeau.

"The house and porch have a continuous roof. It has a veranda. The French always had verandas," she said.

The house has survived with few structural changes. It has long been regarded as a landmark in the city but is in need of repair. Port said there are no funds to repair the house, which is owned by the Historical Society of Cape Girardeau after being donated to the society.

Tours of the house have not been conducted since the 1970's. "They stopped having tours inside due to the poor condition of the home," Port said.

Port said the home basically looks as it did in the 1800s when it was occupied by a middle class French family. She said only plants that could yield food were grown on the home site.

"There were no flower gardens. They were not considered practical. They had herb gardens, kitchen gardens with potatoes and onions." Port said the owners had fruit and nut trees.

More than 70 visitors who toured the Reynolds House were treated to the French storytelling and fiddle playing of Pierre "Pete" Boyer, 87, of Potosi. Boyer, who grew up in the Missouri French mining town of Old Mines, has been a storyteller since 1935.

He told visitors many stories. One story was about Jacques Cartier, a French explorer to Missouri.

"Jacques Cartier went down the Mississippi with shiny rocks he found near the lead mines. He thought they were diamonds. Now people say the saying `as false as Cartier's diamonds,'" he said, laughing with a French accent.

Musical performances during the celebration included the fiddle playing of Dennis Stroughmatt of Carbondale, Ill., Les Petites Chanteurs, the Poor People of Paris, the Laclede Quartet of St. Louis, and the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band.

A performance by the Historyonics Theatre Company of Audubon's early life in Ste. Genevieve was among the evening activities scheduled.

The La Fete Francaise was a three-day-event. It included events in St. Louis on Saturday and Ste. Genevieve on Sunday.