ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / November 18, 2000

RESERVE – Several former workers at the Godchaux Sugar Mill are going toget their 15 minutes of fame this December.

A video crew from the PBS affiliate WLPB in Baton Rouge visited the ReserveAmerican Legion Hall this week to interview some of the old sugar millworkers.

Gathered around an old oak tree, these men exchanged stories and memoriesof their days when Godchaux Sugar was king of Reserve.

“I went from the bottom to the top,” said Dudley Melancon, a 38-year veteranof the sugar mill. “I started out as a timer and retired a supervisor.”

The segment about Godchaux Sugar is only one of the many stories thatcomprise a series called “Lost Louisiana.” James Duhe, the producer and aReserve native, said he sees the series as sort of a walking tour of theMississippi River from the Arkansas border all the way down to New Orleans.

“It’s sort of like the Fats Domino song, ‘Walking to New Orleans’,” said Duhewith a smile.

Duhe has spent several years traveling the waterways of Louisiana collectingstories and memories. “Lost Louisiana” has had three distinct segments;stories along the Red River, the Atchafalaya, and now the Mississippi.

Duhe has already done a piece on the history of Laura Plantation in St. JamesParish, and a piece on a musician in Edgard.

“When I heard they were going to tear down the last of the Godchaux mill, Iknew I had to get some of these guys to talk about it,” said Duhe.

One of the former sugar workers is Duhe’s old mailman, Lawrence Duhe.

Lawrence started working at Godchaux Sugar before World War II. He wasdrafted, and when he returned the mill wasn’t hiring anymore, and Lawrenceended up working in the U.S. Postal Service for 31 years.

He said working for the sugar mill was good work, though. “It wasn’t that hard, and the pay was decent,” said Duhe.

To hear more stories and reminisces of the by-gone days of Reserve, tune into WLPB on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. WLPB is channel 7 on the Time-Warner Cablesystem.

Return To News Stories