Moon’s Hall

Status: Closed

Parish: Iberia

Location: Loreauville

Herman Gesser’s remembrances from a souvenier booklet given out on June 25, 1989 on the occassion of the 80th anniversary of the incorporation of the village of Loreauville: I had an early start in social life by having been permitted to attend dances from the age of 16 years oldat the then well known “Moon’s Hall.” It was an old skating rink with a beautiful polished floor and plenty of room. There was always beautiful music played by big bands, including Louisiana Six from Loreauville, one of the best, which played waltzs, foxtrots, slow drags, and of course at that time “The Charleston.” This occured almost every Sunday night. The dancing charge was 50 cents for men & boys only. The girls, who were quite frequently accompanied by their mothers, sat together on the benches around the edge of the dance floor & waited to be asked for a dance. The hall was air conditioned by a large fan under the bandstand & large open wooden windows all around, not even screened. The men would stand in teh middle of the hall awaiting the next dance or waiting to tag another girl after their parents had been tagged. Funny, we didn’t seem to mind the heat on the hottest nights & we moved too fast for the mosquitos to bother us. I well remember when the Louisiana Six was composed of the original six: Cap Hebert, teh leader, on teh trumpet, Wilton Hebert, on the sax and clarinet and sometimes piano, Noah Hebert on teh piano and base violin, and alief “Coosoon” Girouard on teh slide trombone, Leo Girourard on teh drums, and Viola Hebert on the banjo. I well remember dancing by their beautiful muisc at Monn’s Hall in teh twenties and also Charenton in the thirties. In fact, Wilton, Viola, and Noah attended school in Loreauville at the same time I did. However, Wilton & Viola were a few years older than me. The three brothers and sisterto “Cap.” I well remember Wilton practicing on the piano at school, during recess. Their last performance on Saturday, April 24, 1982 at the community center in the New Iberia City Park was given for a dance benefit of the Cajun Kiwanis Club. It drew people from near and far and left a memory not to be forgotten.