Tucked away in South Louisiana, is the small town of Mamou. It is located 85 miles west of Baton Rouge in Evangeline Parish, and is known for its gumbo, boudin, smoked meats, Cajun delicacies, and everything else in between. Named for the Acadian heroine, Evangeline, in the 1847 poem of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the name means “bearer of good news.” Mamou residents Sidney Fontenot, Sr. and Ella Thomas Fontenot were delighted to receive “good news” as they welcomed baby girl, Bessie Rena Fontenot on March 12, 1947. She was the oldest of three children born to this union in the town known as “The Cajun Music Capital of the World.”
Throughout her elementary and high school years, Rena excelled…
