Here is a picture of Lalas Restaurant. It is dated between 1940-1944. The picture above the girls head is of the Businessmens Softball team taken in 1940. The man in the foreground at the left is my dads Uncle Lange Casso. I do not know the girl in the center. The young man at the right is James Caillier. My dad is at the back of the bar next to a Funzapoppin sign. It appears this picture was taken in the morning at 8:38 according to the Jax clock on the wall. (I would love to have that today.) Uncle Lange was born in 1872 as Carl Angelo Casso. He died in 1944 (helping date the picture). He was a noted eccentric back in his day. Observe the wooden stick in his hand. Evans Cassos book Lorenzo talks about him. Some of the things mentioned are the following: He was nicknamed Lange and also the Professor. He loved the river and built his home over the river on pilings. He loved catching sardines and shrimp (in the days before the river was polluted). He hunted small game regularly. He would during high water periods fetch huge logs floating from the river and by himself row his boat back to shore with the logs and cut the logs into cordwood and use the cordwood as fuel for himself and to sell for money. He was said to be very strong from the years of rowing his boat in the river. The other man in the foreground is James Cailler, who was about 16-17 in this picture. He was known by me only as Caillier (which we pronounced as Kie-yay. He also worked for Dimms Bakery. He would come in to dads restaurant daily to empty the garbage and as payment was given a beer (he liked little millers when I knew him). My dad ,who would get up very early to open the bar/restaurant and come home late after closing the restaurant worked very hard all his life without complaint. When he turned 65 in 1977 he retired from the restaurant business and leased the building to Bernard Mistretta. Bernardo ran the restaurant for a few years. Finally after Bermardos moved on the property was sold for the current parish library. Whenever I go back to Donaldsonville I still can imagine in my minds eye the way that corner looked on Mississippi Street with the pool hall bar at the Lessard Street corner, Lalaa restaurant, the Hotel Donaldson with its overhanging canopy, and at the opposite corner-one of my favorite places (along with Houllions) Shoemakers store where a kid could find comic books and novelty candy to his hearts content.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 13:30:14 +0000
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