FYI: The Bayou Teche National Paddle Trail stretches from Port Barre to Patterson. That’s 135 miles and a heckuva lot of paddle strokes.
FYI: However, come Saturday, October 22, 2022, the TECHE Project’s Paddle Parade on the Teche, as part of its annual fundraiser, Shake Your Trail Feather, isn’t nearly the length of Louisiana’s sole National Paddle Trail.
FYI: In fact, you’ve got two paddling options: a 4.5 mi./2-hour paddle, or a 6.5 mi./2.45-hours.
FYI: No more FYIs, the story follows…
by DOMINICK CROSS/story & photos
BREAUX BRIDGE — Like all festivals and other fun-filled indoor/outdoor events and activities so far this year, Shake Your Trail Feather returns to full form and function on and along Bayou Teche at Parc des Ponts, Saturday, October 22, 2022.
The annual fundraising fete comes in two parts beginning with the morning Paddle Parade that gets rolling 9-ish a.m. with shuttle busing/registration and such. Paddlers will be serenaded by two bands, Amis du Teche and Cajun Fire, on two barges along the bayou route.
And then, along the banks of the bayou at Parc des Ponts, the party in the parc commences at 11 a.m. with lunch trucks, libations & beverages, merch sales, kids activities and catch some fine live music by Horace Trahan and the Ossun Express, from noon to 2 p.m.
The Mississippi Kite is the event’s bird this year. That means decorations, in some fashion or another to honor this small, but mighty bird of prey, will adorn the two music barges floating along with the aforementioned paddlers.
It is hoped that paddlers, as well as landlubbers in the parc, will costume themselves in Mississippi Kite regalia.
“Every year we have a theme bird. This year it’s Mississippi Kite,” said Patti Holland, executive director of the TECHE Project. “So we have Mississippi Kites that are going to be flying from the barges on strings on bamboo poles kind of hanging out there and some of them are going to be mounted on cypress.”
The decor will include moss and palmetto and feather boas.
“We’re giving out prizes for the best dressed birds,” Holland said. “So people should don their feathers and come shake them.”
Some paddlers even decorate their kayaks and canoes.
A kayak raffle, courtesy of Pack & Paddle, will be held.
As of Tuesday, October 18, 2022, Holland said about 85 people have already registered for the Paddle Parade.
“We had 35 people show-up at the door last year,” said Holland. “So we had like 150 people registered last year. And we’re probably tracking to have about the same this year.”
At Shake Your Trail Feather, look for sticker decals to attach to a snake-shaped (like the bayou itself) outline on your kayak/canoe (as RVs do when camping around the country) to indicate where you’ve paddled, like, from, say, Breaux Bridge to Parks.
Also look for a Towns of the Teche poster “which is kind of cool,” said Holland. “It has symbols for the different towns on the Teche and has the cultural write-ups of the symbols that represent those towns.”
For example, Breaux Bridge is the crawfish; St. Martinville is the Evangeline Oak; and Arnaudville is Deux Bayous.
Paddling through COVID
The TECHE Project’s annual funder did paddle atop Bayou Teche during the COVID-19 pandemic the past two years, but stopped short of holding the terra firma activities because they’re smart like that.
“We missed the the Party in the Parc for two years,” Holland said. “But we did have the Paddle Parade both years because it was something that could be done outside and people could space.
“But you couldn’t do live music and serve alcohol and food for a couple of years,” she said, adding with much enthusiasm: “So we’re back in the parc.”
The pandemic was actually a boon to such outdoor activities.
“Paddling took off during the pandemic. It was something people could do,” said Holland. “It’s relatively inexpensive to go out and buy a kayak and hit the water.
“It was good for the paddle culture,” she said. “I think RVs and paddling took off during the pandemic.”
Proceeds from the TECHE Project event go to building the Bayou Teche National Paddle Trail, which will provide access docks and other amenities for paddlers in the 15 towns along Bayou Teche.
Currently, 13 docks have been installed and there’s two more yet to do.
“One’s going go to Poche Bridge where the paddle starts off,” said Holland. “And the other one’s going in at Leonville.”
The organization has been in the dock-installation business some seven or eight years. When the remaining two are completed, one may wonder if Shake Your Trail Feather will continue.
“Hopefully,” Holland said. “The (Paddle) Parade has gained some momentum. So, yeah, I’d like to think that Shake Your Trail Feather is going to continue on and there’s always going to be amenities that we’re going need for the paddle trail.”
And these amenities would be kayak lockers, trash cans, benches, upkeep, etc.
“Even though we do turn them over to the towns for long-term ownership and maintenance, there’s always little ancillary things that the TECHE Project brings to the trailheads,” said Holland.
Paddlers are asked to register before Saturday, October 22, 2022.
Tickets for either the shorter or longer paddle are the same price ($15 for adults and $10 for kids 12 and under). The day-of price will be $18 for adults and $12 for kids 12 and under. All tickets include a festival pin with this year’s bird, the Mississippi Kite.
There will be a pre-paddle shuttle ($5 cost at the bus) from each location. The shuttle bus leaves Lil’s on the Teche at 9 a.m. and Parc des Ponts at 9:15 a.m.
Please note that registration does not include kayak rental, lunch or shuttle. If you are interested in renting a boat with a life vest for the Paddle to the Party, contact Bayou Teche Experience, Pack and Paddle or The Backpacker.
The parade is limited to non-motorized watercraft.
TECHE Project
Overall, TECHE Project has been around since 2008 and has some 400 folks bent on making Bayou Teche a healthier waterway for the wild inhabitants in and around it, as well as for humans for fishing, kayaking, canoeing, boating, tubing and, yes, swimming.
As of 2021, 58 tons of trash and debris has been pulled from the Teche. So that, coupled with the docks, the rare National Paddle Trail designation, all put a smile on Holland’s face.
“I’m really amazed at what we’ve done,” said Holland. “We’re nearing completion on a first class paddle trail and we’ve got the only National Water Trail in the State of Louisiana and I think there’s only 33 nationwide.
“So that’s quite an accomplishment,” she said. “And we’ve kind of changed the mindset of people living and playing up and down the Teche to have more pride in Bayou Teche.
“The bayou’s much cleaner now than it used to be,” Holland said. “Now when we go out to collect garbage, there’s not that much out there.”
A TECHE Project membership party, Twilight on the Teche, is scheduled for November 5, 2022, 6-9 p.m., in New Iberia. Food, beer and wine are on tap.
The event is free for current members and $25 for those who want to join the nonprofit or renew their membership. Live music by David Greely and Chas Justus.
A pre-party Sunset Cocktail Cruise, 5-6 p.m., is $12. Tickets are limited and available on Eventbrite. RSVP: techeproject@gmail.com or 337.706.2323.