By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – On Saturday evening, the place for any River Parishes art lover to be was the Maurin-Ory Home on West Fifth Street in LaPlace as the River Region Arts and Humanities Council held “The Artist, the Builder and the Kid.”

The event showcased the work of three local artistic talents, painter Antoine Verret, architect John Ernest Pastureau and musician Edward “Kid” Ory.

RRAHC President Harold Flynn seemed pleased with the evening’s turnout.

“We did beautifully. We planned for 150 and we ended up selling about 250 tickets,” he said, adding, “We’re so grateful to the Orys for letting us use their home.”

Maurin-Ory Home owner R. J. Ory, who is also a grandson of Verret, said, “I knew when I bought this house there was no way I could keep it closed.”

He said he thought the event achieved its goal admirably.

“I enjoyed it thoroughly,” he said. “My grandfather would have loved it. For me it brought a lot of stuff together.”

For agreeing to host the event, the Orys were given a framed picture of the house by the RRAHC. The group also awarded its annual Angelus Award to longtime member Sue Friloux. Part of the award is a $500 check, which Friloux donated to her alma mater, St. Charles Borromeo.

While she acknowledged the amount was small in the great scheme of things, she noted, “Little drops in the bucket mean a great deal to people.”

While many of those in attendance spent much of the evening enjoying drinks and food from Wayne Jacob’s Smokehouse, the focus of the evening was the artwork.

Said Jane Montz Desroches, one of the event’s organizers, “I think it went fabulously. The house, the paintings and the music in the background.”