MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / April 14, 1999

LAPLACE – It was a time of Canteen dances, of Maurin’s Theater and the Reserve Community Club. A time when few had television sets andbaseball was the National Pastime.

“Joltin Joe” DiMaggio had retired a year earlier, to be replaced by another Hall-of-Famer in the Yankee Stadium outfield, Mickey Mantle. Willie Mayswas patrolling center field for the New York Giants. Stan Musial was “TheMan” in St. Louis and Ted Williams “The Splendid Splinter” in Boston.The year was 1952, the year when Godchaux Sugars plant manager Roland Toups formulated the idea of a public Little League baseball program in St.

John Parish. Reserve, the largest town in the parish at that time, had fourteams in the Junior Sugar Cane League – the Reds, Yankees, Giants and Cubs. LaPlace had the Cards and Garyville the Braves.Saturday night, the players that played for those historical teams came together once more at the Holiday Inn in LaPlace to renew old acquaintances and relieve the memories of a time that seemed just like yesterday for many.

“I’m enjoying it,” Roland Toups, son of the league’s founder and who later went on to be inducted into Georgia Tech’s baseball Hall-of-Fame with his brother, Leon, said of the reunion.

“You can see the togetherness and closeness these boys had. It was aspecial closeness, like one big family. When the league got started, all thekids were excited about it. It was quite a thing.”The idea for “An Evening to Review Little League ’52” got its start about a year ago when Charles Alltmont, a member of the Reserve Reds, and Harold Keller, the coach of that team, were having coffee at Belle Terre Country Club.

The two started talking about the good old days in Reserve and discussed having a reunion of the old Junior Sugar Cane League. Alltmont told Kellerto put it together and he would work with him on it. Sure enough, Alltmontsaid Keller called him six weeks ago and said that they were doing it.

A committee was formed consisting of Keller, Alltmont, Jimmy Terrio, Allen Chapman, Tommy St. Martin, Louis Hotard, David Sutton, Mack Reine,Terry Roussel and Sheldon Vice. The committee contacted the playersusing old photographs.

Some of the players brought mementos from their playing days. There wasthe trophy giving to the Reserve Yankees for winning the first league championship with a perfect record. Chapman brought the uniform he woreas a member of the Garyville Braves. Alltmont displayed the glove hewore, one his grandfather bought for him in 1948.

Keller, the Master of Ceremonies, told the group that “Tonight we are going to be like little children. We are going back to 1952.”After Toups gave the opening remarks and the prayer, Farrel Weber Sr.,Harry Montz Jr., Armand Brady, George Terrio, Dorrel Catoire and BobVicknair led the Pledge of Allegiance. The six were among eight playerswho enlisted in the Marine Corps on the same day. Diana Duffy sang theNational Anthem with Alltmont then leading the audience in a rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” as Keller and Weber threw boxes of Cracker Jacks and peanuts to the crowd.

Team captains Terry Roussel (Yanks), Allen Chapman (Braves), Louis Hotard (Cubs), Farrel Weber Sr. (Giants), Mack Reine Jr. (Cards) and DavidSutton (Reds) introduced their teams.

Members of the Yanks, coached by the late Charles Avrill and “Kippy” Williamson, were Charles “Dickie” Avrill, Kenneth Camallo, Jimmy Cambre, Huey Delaneuville, E.J. Duhe, Mark Falgoust, Gerald Keller, LesterMillet, Jake Maus, Eldon Remondet, Brent Roussel, Terry Roussel, Leon Toups, Roland Toups, Allen Triche, Gary Weber and Clifton “Brother” Williamson.

The Reds, coached by Harold Keller, were Charles Alltmont, Dale Boudreaux, Gary Braten, Bobby Fulton, Byron Landry, D. Allynn Madere,Richard Montegut, david Sutton, George “Dickie” Terrio, Jimmy Terrio, Sheldon Vice and Oscar Vicknair.

The Giants, coached by the late Joe Bossier and Lynn Ockman, were Herbert Becnel, Armand Brady, Phil Breaux, L. Broten, Dorrel Catoire, Johnny Cicet,Richard Granier, Gerald Klibert, Rene Miller Jr., Harry Montz Jr., RonnieTorres, Bob Vicknair and Farrel Weber Sr.

The Cubs, coached by Charles Battard and the late “Cop” Cambre, were Albert Audiffred, Jerry Aubert, John Cox, Nemour “Steve” Delaneuville, Albert “Nootsie” Hotard, Louis Hotard, Lawrence Jacob, Malcolm Jacob, Harold Montegut Jr., Gordon Simon, Ray Tamplain, Donald Tassin and JerryToups.

Coach Lionel “Torriet” Laurent’s Cards were Theodore “Teddy” Brady, Steve Cupit, Joseph “Joe” Dufrense, Chester Duhe, Larry Hyman, Ferrol “Co-Co” Keating, Kenneth Montz, Jay Ory, Bruce Perrilloux, Mack Reine Jr.,Jerry Rome, Tommy St. Martin, William “Billy” Terry, Jules Vicknair andAllen Wempren.

The Braves, coached by the late Pete Falgoust and Carl Delery were Ronald Amedee, Barry Boneno, Tommy Bourgeois, Myron “Pat” Brady, Milton cambre, Allen Chapman, Earl Doming, E.J. Doming, William “Jackie” MianoJr., Kenny Simon, Eldon Tregre, Johnny Tregre, Roy Tregre, CurtisTrosclair, O.J. Trosclair Jr. and William “Billy” Trosclair. Jimmy Terrio remembered the deceased players, Jimmy Amedee of the Braves, Bobby Ayme and Gerald Labat of the Cards, Farrel “Moon” Jacob of the Cubs and Al Berthelot, Dale Englade, Bill Jacob and E.J. Schexnayder ofthe Reds.

Nemour “Steve” Delane-uville, a member of the league who is now a professor at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Florida, gave the closing remarks, discussing “Leadership and Little League Baseball.”Delaneuville stated the qualities of a great leader and identified leaders in the community who possessed them, men such as Emile Hotard, Msgr.

Jean Eyraud, Roland Toups, E.L. Granier, Joe Lucia Sr., Joe Keller and J.O.Montegut.

Delaneuville then discussed how the Junior Sugar cane League served as an academy to develop leaders, mentioning Joe Keller, the league’s commissioner; Sheldon Vice, Harold Keller, Ferrol Keating, Billy Terry and Dr. Gerald Keller.”Most of us have lived over half of our life time,” Delaneuville said. “Wehave experienced triumph and tragedy, success and failure, and happiness and sorrow, and because of our Little League baseball experience, we have been able to successfully meet those challenges in the past and we will continue to do so in the future.” A number of the players gave testimonies about playing in the league.

Dickie Avrill, who played for the league champion Yankees, said it was a remarkable feeling putting on a Yankee uniform at a time that the big league team was winning championship after championship.

“It is nice to see old faces and remember good times,” Avrill, whose father played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1920s, said.

David Sutton, who played for the Reds, agreed, adding how much Godchaux Sugars contributed to the league.

“It was the best time of my life,” Sutton said. “How much fun we had andhow organized it was, we were fortunate. We had the facilities and we hadthe backing.”Alltmont recalled how well done and organized the league was done. Theplayers wore wool uniforms, just like the Major Leaguers of the time. Eachteam played a 15-game schedule with results and standings published in L’Observateur. All games were played at the Reserve Community Club Parkin Reserve. An announcer’s booth was built at the park and a sound systemput in for Henry Adolph, who announced each batter’s name and statistics.

“It is a memory that none of us will ever lose,” Alltmont said of playing in the league.

Adolph credited men like Joe Keller and Roland Toups for the vision they had in establishing the league. The triple headers played twice a weekbecame like a town hall meeting for the parish with the community coming out to watch the games and talk about a variety of issues.

“People like Roland Toups and Joe Keller had the wherewithal to get this thing going,” Adolph said. “It was just a wholesome activity. It gave thekids something to do at night and the whole community was involved.” Toups said that the size of the turnout for the reunion shows how much the league meant to the players who participated in it.

“This is a super, super event,” Toups said. “Only in Louisiana could you seethis. It means so much to us. It was a magical moment in the RiverParishes at that time. For all of us to be here in this celebration ofexcellence, it couldn’t happen anywhere else. This is a magical moment.You couldn’t recreate it in a thousand years.”

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