Around the Westside for Sept. 12, 2012

The Pointe Coupee Historical Society will host an opening and book signing for a photography exhibit from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday at the Julien Poydras Museum and Arts Center.

Richard Sexton, Randy Harelson and Brian Castello, authors of “New Roads and Old Rivers: Louisiana’s Historic Pointe Coupee Parish,” will be on hand to autograph copies of their book, which will be on sale for $45 per copy Saturday.

Then on Sunday, Friends of the Pointe Coupee Parish Museum is inviting the public to an open house from noon to 3 p.m. at the Pointe Coupee Parish Museum, located near Parlange Plantation.

There will be refreshments, music and tours of the historic building as the museum celebrates the bicentennial of Louisiana statehood (1812-2012).

Family affair

The St. Joseph Annual Family Festival will be held from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Sunday on the grounds of St. Joseph Church, 76940 Gum St., in Grosse Tete.

Fried chicken dinners will be served from 10:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. for $6 a plate.

Cold beverages and desserts will also be available for purchase.

Event activities include two raffles, bingo, a general store, door prizes, horseshoe and volleyball tournaments and children’s entertainment.

For more information, contact Jeanie David at [phone].

Rockin’ and Roasting

The Greater Pointe Coupee Chamber of Commerce will host a barbecue cook-off and fishing tournament called “Rockin’ & Roasting on the River” Sept. 28 and Sept. 29 at Morrison Parkway in New Roads.

The event will feature food, refreshments, live music, a raffle, arts and crafts booths, a boat parade and a youth fishing tournament.

The event kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 28 with live music by Dale Sellars and Backroads Band.

The daylong list of activities starts with a barbecue cook-off at 8 a.m. Sept. 29.

To participate in the cook-off, visit http://www.pcchamber.org or contact Kelly Smith at [phone].

The youth fishing tournament will take place from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. Saturday.

The children’s tournament is open to children 14 years of age and younger.

Registration, $5 per person, will begin at 7 a.m. under the white tent at Morrison Parkway.

A trophy and $100 cash prize will be awarded for the biggest bass, catfish and bream.

Call chamber member Kurt Kellerman at [phone] for information.

History lecture

Faye Phillips will discuss “The History of West Baton Rouge Parish: People, Places, Progress” at the Ethel Claiborne Dameron Lecture Series at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the West Baton Rouge Museum in Port Allen.

The event is free and sponsored by the West Baton Rouge Historical Association.

The book is a comprehensive publication that starts readers with the 17th-century discovery of the area now called West Baton Rouge Parish, organizers said. Phillips will sign books and refreshments will follow the lecture.

To submit news, contact Westside Bureau Chief Terry Jones by phone, [phone]; fax, [phone]; or email, [e-mail].