About a year ago I was driving through the the small neighboring town of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, and on a side road along the railroad track was a building with a sign that read, “Chesterton Square.” It didn’t strike me as unusual – that is a common enough name in an English speaking part of the world, isn’t it?
But then I looked at the statue in the front of the building. Was I dreaming?
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
In this small Louisiana town, known for its annual Strawberry Festival and rustic antique shops, is the only life-sized free-standing statue of G.K. Chesterton in the world.
When I got home, I did some research, and I discovered that the Chesterton Society of Baton Rouge was going to be hosting the 1st Annual Louisiana Chesterton Conference in March. Still floating around as if in some episode of The Twilight Zone I registered for the conference.
The Conference
The conference was last weekend. It started at 8am on a Saturday morning and lasted throughout the day. The facility was one spacious room with fresh-looking white sheets hung from the ceiling. The brick walls were lined with sponsor tables presenting books and gifts as well as other tables of coffee and donuts (not a very good Lenten breakfast choice, I must say).
Around 9, the speakers began, and they included two Chesterton scholars who I have come to admire through the years, Dale Ahlquist and Joseph Pearce. The highlight for me was a one-man performance of Kevin O’Brien as Hilaire Belloc. He was brilliant. Also presenting a paper was Brian Daigle who heads up the Sequitur Classical Academy in Baton Rouge – and who I discovered studied the humanities as I did at the University of Dallas.
After the conference the attendees were encourage to attend Mass together a few blocks away at St. Joseph’s Church. I had to exit a little early, but I could not leave before enjoying a jambalaya lunch and joining the American Chesterton Society. They will be having their annual conference in August in San Antonio. If you have the means and the love of paradox and wit, you should consider going.
The post 1st Louisiana Chesterton Conference appeared first on IgnitumToday.
