By Leonard Gray / L’Observateur / February 16, 1998

DES ALLEMANDS – The 1998 Krewe of Des Allemands surprised Merlin and Gladys Schaubhut recently with the news they will reign as the krewe’s king and queen.

“We were real surprised!” Mrs. Schaubhut commented. “I asked him if we’daccept, and he said why not?” The Schaubhuts will be honored at tonight’s annual coronation ball at the Father Mac Community Center of St. Gertrude Catholic Church. The ballbegins at 8 p.m. and continues until 1 a.m. Tickets are $25 per couple, andmusic will be provided by Sook and the Breeze.

The Schaubhuts will also ride at the head of the Krewe of Des Allemands parade, which starts at 2 p.m Feb. 22.The Des Allemands parade was originally run by the Lions Club but it fell on hard times and was canceled. However, a new organization re-established the Krewe of Des Allemands, now in its fourth year, and asked residents to nominate the royalty each year.

The Schaubhuts, lifelong residents of the town, met when they were teen- agers attending dances at the old Smile Inn.

“We love to dance,” Mrs. Schaubhut said, adding they have enjoyed dancingtogether ever since.

His parents were Arthur and Rose Schaubhut, and hers were Charles and Marie Matherne. Both come from large families, he with three brothers andthree sisters and she with three brothers and five sisters.

The Schaubhuts, who will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in July, have three children, Linda Cunningham, Karen Loupe and Merlin Schaubhut Jr. They also have seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Schaubhut is a retired commercial fisherman who also enjoyed trapping.

He worked as a deputy sheriff under Julius “Ducky” Sellers Jr. in the early1970s. “I didn’t care for it,” he commented.Mrs. Schaubhut said she was in her mid-teens when she first met Merlin.”He and my brother Don used to hang around together,” she said. “I used towatch them dance, but Daddy didn’t want me to go.”By the time she was 17 – he was 21 – they were married. They’veremained dancing partners ever since.

“I’ve loved her from the minute I first saw her,” Schaubhut said with a smile.

She turned abruptly at this and grinned.

“We’ve had a really good life,” she said.

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