You know the old phrase, “Mark Your Calendars.”

Well, I figure I should rephrase the phrase since it needs some special emphasis.

“MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

There. That should hopefully get the point across.

Of course I’m talking about this weekend’s Andouille Festival, which begins on Friday at 6 p.m. and will have an amazing run of fun and partying all the way until Sunday at 10 p.m. when the big event finally closes down.

As we’ve been telling you here on our L’Observateur pages for the past week or so, this year’s Andouille Festival seriously looks like the biggest thing that has ever been set for St. John Parish.

And in case you haven’t seen our multitude of notices, ads and front page information, here is the schedule to attend:

Friday, Oct. 17: 6 p.m. to midnight.

Saturday, Oct. 18: 11 a.m. to midnight.

Sunday, Oct. 19: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The festival has been moved to the wide-open grounds of the St. John Community Center on Highway 51, meaning we will have lots of space to park and get around.

And our new parish administration not only made that very smart move to the Community Center grounds to provide more space for the fair, but they have made sure to back it up with a “bigger and better” backing of everything that the festival will have.

I really like the new two stage setup, as this year will have a Miller Lite Stage and a Bud Light Stage, where music will be blowing and going non-stop on both stages for the entire fair.

Naturally more space means there will be more of the carnival rides, and more space means there will be more vendors with more food and more drinks and more crafters and more….well, you get the idea.

And here is the big announcement you’ve been waiting for: This year features your own L’Observateur returning to have a booth at the fair so you can have the thrill of your life by meeting…..(drum roll please)….ME!

That’s right, I know you can hardly believe it, but you will have an opportunity to meet me at the fair this year if you can just find your way to our L’Observateur booth. Oh by the way, we will also have other staff members from “the Lobster,” so you can talk to them if you don’t want to talk to me. But naturally I know most everyone will be coming to our booth so they can meet a real celebrity, and don’t worry, I’m really just a down-to-earth guy like everyone else.

All this talk you hear about how we celebrities think we are special, and can’t relate to “the little people,” (that’s what I call them even if they aren’t little), and well, it’s just foolish, since I’m no more full of myself than anyone else, and I really don’t just talk about myself even though I know I’m a pretty special guy, and actually, I like listening to other people talk since I know that shows I’m interested in you, so don’t worry about me just talking about myself since…..oh, sorry, I don’t know how that happened.

Anyway, hope to see you this weekend at the fair.

Back to the real fair news, we will be giving away very cool Frisbees with “L’Observateur” written on them, and a bunch of other goodies, as well as a free drawing every few hours for the best thing you could ever imagine winning at the fair….A FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO OUR PAPER!

Man, I don’t think I’ve ever used capital letters so much in one column! WOW! I just wanted to do it again.

Anyway, give some props to the parish folks for busting their rears to get this fair put together. It really, really is going to be one great bunch of fun and you’ve got to make sure to come spend the weekend there. I mean, what better way to get your mind off all the mess we’ve gone through in recent weeks?

By the way, make sure to pull out the inside part of our ‘A’ section in today’s paper since we have a map of the fair and an informational list of everything you need to know so you won’t miss any of the action.

As long as you are heading out the Highway 51 way, you also have a chance to stop by First United Methodist Church almost next door.

My good friend Mark Bray, who happens to be Pastor Mark Bray to you FUMC folks, told me that their church is beginning a Pumpkin Patch for the kids, starting on Friday, Oct. 17 and running through Oct. 31.

There will be activities for the whole family, including hayrides, food, face painting and games as you look over the pumpkins to purchase.

Stop by the church, located right next to Lake Pontchartrain Elementary, and help with their fundraising effort that is helping raise money for their missions and church work.

For more information, call 652-6560, or check out fumclaplace.org.

Kevin Chiri is Publisher of L’Observateur and can be reached at (985) 652-9545 or at kchiri@bellsouth.net