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Saturday, Novmb^ri, 1971
they gather every year
By JERRY KINSER '
To Remember The Past
A colorful and mea ningful tradition was carried on again this Nov. I as hundreds of relatives and friends gathered at Rotten Bayou Cemetery to commemorate All-Saints' Day.
Don't look for any road signs to pointthe way to Rotten Bayou. The families living in the area don't need signs or want them. Casual visitors must seek detailed directions and then risk the well-being of their cars on the pitted dirt roads leading to the small clearing. However, the trip is well worth the effort.
Rotten Bayou is essentially a family cemetery primarily for the Fenton-Pine Hills communities. A walk through the unique fenced-in grave sites quickly reveals the predominant family names -- Moran, Cuevas, Ladner, and Garriga.
The 40-acre site, in fact, was originally donated for community use before the War Between the States by one Felicete Moran Cuevas after her husband Frank was buried there.
Frank Cuevas was the son of Juan de Cuevas, a resident of Cat Island who gained fame as the "Paul Revere of the Mississippi Gulf Coast" during the War of 1812.
The family burial pfots af Rotteft Bayou are each carefully fenced ijt with wood or wrought-iron paling's depending on family finances, and each receives individual attention on All-Saints' Day. Actual clean-up work is done several days earlier. Nov. I is reserved for placing bunches of floorers and burning candles on the'graves.
The yearly occasion has always been a perfectchance for relatives , from far and nsor together, gossjjpi, and remember stories about the loved ones in the cemetery. It is also a deeply religious experience.	-
Ever since a beloved area priest, Father Dennis, died in 1953, a visiting- ~ priest has cel@jbjxite.ct Moss at hts .grave site at I I a.m. each All-Saint*1 Day for the benefit of the assembly relatives.
This year approximately 1,000 relatives and friends gathered at tKe grave of Father Dennis, a native of Belgium who had spent many years ministering to the needs of the area residents, and quietly celebrated Mass. It was an impressive sight, reminding the visitor that many of the Old World's valuable and enriching customs are still very much alive on our Gulf Coast.