Colonial Club

Status: Closed

Parish: Avoyelles

Location: Hessmer

Dale Walker: “The Colonial Club is one of the clubs I remember going to when my dad was in the band and they played there mainly on Saturday Nights. The Colonial Club was really what I would call a Honky Tonk. It was the classic white building with no windows except maybe one in the back. At that time there was no fire marshals nor was there any fire safety laws. It must have been in the mid to late fifties when my dad played music there. I can still see the traditional wooden tables with wood chairs with the red and white checkered tablecloths. The tables would comfortably seat four individuals but if needed two or more tables could be put together. I really enjoyed the nights my dad played music. Heck I was a dancing queen on those nights in a dark corner next to the band stand dancing my heart away to every song. My Mom would be sitting at the table and would keep an eye on me because several times I had ventured out on the dance floor to try my hand at dancing with the adults. My mom would start looking for me and when my dad would see her looking for me my dad would point to my location. She would immediately come get me. The Colonial Club had a crowd every Saturday Night and I would see adults having good clean fun dancing the night away. The Colonial Club was located on the Hessmer Hwy. between Bunkie, LA and Marksville, LA. Therefore it drew people from both sides of the parish. My dad’s band was well known so they drew a crowd. They played old country and western songs especially Hank Williams, Sr. Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Rogers, Lefty Frizzell, Johnny Cash, Ernest Tubb, etc. The songs still live inside my head after all those years.”

Listed in “Readers recall clubs where they danced to Louisiana Music” from The Daily Advertiser, December 29, 1998: “Readers of The Daily Advertiser were asked to submit names of’ the clubs where they danced to Louisiana music in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, with a brief recollection of what the club was like and who played there.”

Alton Dupuy: It was a country music spot between Hessmer & Bunkie.