Dance halls like Slims were popular places in America between the 1920s (The Roaring 20s) to the early 80s when technology like computers, Internet and cell phones began changing the way the world operates. Places like Slims in Kinder, the Purple Peacock in Eunice, Evangeline Club in Ville Platte, Green Lantern in Lawtell, Red Rose in Lake Arthur and Oakdale Drive Inn Dancehall, to name a few, are a part of the history of this area. This past week, another landmark, Slims, was taken down.
The aging structure, an eyesore as one entered Kinder on its eastside, served as a memory for many residents who recalled the days they spent inside that building dancing, visiting with friends and making memories.
Mike Karam
Dr. Mike Karam, retired dentist from Kinder and member of the American Legion and Rotary organizations here, recalled the beginnings of Slims. He believes it opened in the late 1950s, because it was the time he was in dental school. He recalls they liked to go to Bero’s at the time he graduated from high school in 1954. It was located outside Eunice in the Piney Woods area, right before one hit the old skating rink as you enter the city. At the time, Raymond “Slim” Naquin was a bartender there.
Then, Slim went to work at the Green Acre Club in Kinder, which was owned by Maurice “Mo” Lafleur. He said that dance hall was located right past Cappel’s house on the left, near the same area. A reddish brick house off Highway 190 sits back from the road. There’s also an oval metal building dilapidated now that once served as a couple of sheet metal shops. It’s also near Manuel’s Wrecker Service, which now exists in that area. He said the Green Acre Club sat in the vacant lot that is in front of that reddish brick house.
“Slim worked as a bartender there for Mo,” Karam said. “Then he built Slims in the late 1950s. He stayed there a long time. There was a bar, dance floor in back and a room where one or two pool tables were. Sometimes they would cook in the back. He ran it for a long time. Then he sold the business to Jake Alvarado.”
Karam said as he recalls Alvarado sold it to Benny Pelican, brother of former Police Chief Gary Pelican, the best he can remember. Someone else added in Facebook postings they believed the Duplechin boys took it over after the Pelicans.
Regardless, many from the 1950s until Slim’s closed as a business will remember spending time there.
Karam said before Slim’s built there, this was the place where the Kinder Garden Inn was located. Owned by Julian Richard in the 1940s, he said many played bingo there or visited the bar and dance floor.
“He had that when I was a kid,” Karam recalled. “Probably during World War II. It was really before my time. I did play bingo there when I was about eight years old.”
He said the Kinder Garden Inn was built sideways on the lot and faced the highway. It had a banister top. “It was pretty well known for this area.”
Either they tore the building down or moved it, and Slim built his building there.
At Slims, Karam remembered Katie Webster singing there often. He said there’s a photo of her on the piano. That photo is now showcased at the Welcome Center in Kinder in its section about Allen Parish musicians. He said Webster sat on top of the piano and sang at Slims for awhile. Others recalled seeing Percy Sledge and other celebrities there.
Ortego
Todd Ortego of Eunice, who has been DJ-ing in this area for 40 years now, recalls he played there one night. He was a regular at sites like the Purple Peacock where he did the Wednesday Swamp and Roll Show, Thursday night beer busts and several wedding venues on the weekends. “It’s sad to see these landmarks, good time venues go due to the rapid demise of physical conditions. All we have left when we pass by is the memories now.”
Slims’ existence ended Thursday, August 18, as the building came down.
John Richard
John Richard’s family has owned the land there for about 80 years. He said the Kinder Garden Inn existed where the two highways meet. He said the highway department tore it down to make the new highway, which splits as you drive into Kinder on the east side of town.
His father and grandmother ran the businesses the family owned in the area. He said his grandmother had a restaurant inside the Inn. He was very young then and doesn’t remember too much, but he believes there might have been a drug store there too. He said they sold some of the land there where the old skating rink now sits.
He recalls the Kinder Garden Inn was a one-story building patterned after Mount Vernon. He remembers there were picnic tables there and maybe the sheriff owned a bull riding arena in the area.
When Slim decided to retire, he sold the building to Victor “Moon” Guillory. He said Guillory leased the building to several people before all business ceased to exist at that location.
Over the years, Richard said several people approached him about doing business on his land, but it never became a reality at that location.
The end of Slims
Then, Kinder’s leaders began discussing the condition of the building. Mayor Wayland Lafargue said the building was deteriorating and it was deemed condemned. About eight years ago, the town began the condemnation process. The town also learned taxes on the building had not been paid since 2016.
Richard said he considered paying the taxes. He also thought about repairs.
Mayor Lafargue said finally they discussed Richard’s options and plans for the building. It was agreed it was time to take the building down. And on Thursday, that process began.
As the building came down, the mayor posed that under the building there were hundreds of beer bottles. He said there were three floors, two attic fans and the smell of smoke was still there. His final post on the matter was a picture of a catfish. “The last customer of Slims, a catfish. Underneath Slims was an 18-inch hole with several catfish.”
Editor’s Note: You can find lots of information about famous nightclubs in the state from two sites, https://louisianadancehalls.com/dance-halls and https://1079ishot.com/the-ten-clubs-that-we-should-bring-back-to-lafayette-and-acadiana/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral.
