“I never imagined being King of the Tamale Fiesta,” said a surprised Ronnie Brandon. “When Suzette Anderson called and told me I had been named King by the Board of Directors, I was shocked.” “I am very honored,” he added. Brandon will be the 46th King to reign over the popular Zwolle Tamale Fiesta, which will be hosted on October 6-8. Large numbers of festival-goers flock to the small Sabine Parish town for a weekend of arts and crafts, contests, a parade, tamale-eating contest, music and so much more. Tamale Fiesta t-shirts, prints of the 2022 poster and plenty of hot tamales, prepared by some of the best cooks in the state, will be available for sale.
The weekend of fun kicks off with the Fiesta Ball, where Brandon and his Queen, will be officially introduced as 2022 royalty. The annual Fiesta was founded in 1975 when the late Rogers P. Loupe suggested the formation of a festival highlighting a combination of the Indian and Spanish heritage of the area. Because of his hard work and contributions to making it the largest festival in the area, Loupe was named Father of the Fiesta. Mr. Loupe died in May 2009, but not before he was honored as King in 1980 and 2009.
New King
In 2022, the honor of being named King of the Tamale Fiesta has been bestowed on Ronald Dale Brandon, a local attorney and Zwolle resident, who was a mere 13-yearsold when the Fiesta was founded! The Brandons have been in the area for decades.
Ronnie was the third out of four children born to Earl and Joan Brandon. His siblings are Sharon Brandon DeWitt, Mike Brandon and Karen Brandon Stonecipher. The children were raised in the Hurricane Valley community. Brandon’s father owned Brandon’s Feed and Seed, located in Zwolle, before joining the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Department. He served as Patrol Officer prior to retirement. In his early years, he was a butcher at Lefkovits and Paul Ebarb’s Grocery in Zwolle. Mr. Brandon died in 2014.
Ronnie’s mother, Joan, raised her children and in later years, worked in the Fabric section of Walmart. She was an avid seamstress. She is now looking forward to the Tamale Ball and seeing her son reign over the weekend’s Fiesta activities, Ronnie and his wife, Pollie, have attended every Fiesta except one— when they moved into their new home, located in Beau Chene subdivision on Toledo Bend Lake.
Early Years
Ronnie attended St. Joseph Catholic School until the sixth grade, when he transferred to the Zwolle school system.
His years at Zwolle High were busy. He ran track for the ZHS Hawks for three years and beat the drums in the band throughout his high school years. Ronnie was also very active in FFA. He was one of Chris Loupe’s first students. In school he was named Best All Around by his classmates. He graduated in 1980 and that fall began studies in Criminal Justice at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches. He had hopes of becoming a La. State Trooper.
His great uncle was Zwolle Police Chief Quinton Brandon, a legend throughout the state and known for cleaning up a rough small town. Chief Brandon served for a number of years and made an impression on young Ronnie.
“We were pretty close,” he recalled. “I remember butchering goats with him in the summers.”
At Northwestern State University, young Brandon began his studies and worked for University Police and later the Natchitoches Police Department. Although Ronnie and Pollie knew each other in high school, they didn’t date until they both had summer jobs at Big Star. A romance developed over the previous summer and in June, 1981 they married. The vivacious former Tamale Queen was the perfect match for the quiet young man. Both returned to Northwestern State University. Pollie was a Computer Technology student at NSU, who was employed at First Bank of Natchitoches. Ronnie was a student of Criminal Justice. It was after six months with the Natchitoches Police Department, that Brandon was involved with a shooting, when he was a mere 15 minutes from being off duty on the graveyard shift. Officers Brandon and Randy Weaver arrived on the scene of a fight at Pee Wee’s Bar, to find that Officers Victor Jones, who later was Sheriff in Natchitoches, and Ronald Spencer were already at the scene. Brandon and Weaver separated the fighting women, as the other officers were dealing with a Robeline man, who had previously been banned from the bar. Dan Davenport had come on the scene and was firing blasts from a .410 shotgun. Within seconds, Spencer was wounded, and Brandon, who was calling for assistance, discovered he’d also been wounded. Both officers were rushed to Natchitoches Parish Hospital as Brandon’s partner headed off to tell Brandon’s wife (of less than a year) of the shooting. After his recovery, Officer Brandon said he became more cautious when called out. He continued with his dream, even though the other officer resigned.
“I’d always wanted to be a policeman and that was just one of the hazards,” he said. His wife supported him as he continued on the force.
Officer Brandon was awarded a Purple Heart after being shot in the line of duty. Not long after, his wife, who sold Tiara glassware to help out with expenses, won a trip to Hawaii through the company. Both remembered the trip as a “dream come true.” On the trip, Brandon thought long and hard about becoming a policeman. He loved the work and enjoyed working with attorneys on cases, but he decided that he liked traveling more. In order to be able to travel, he needed to earn a better salary. On the flight home he told his wife that he was going to change majors. He completed his Associate Degree in Criminal Justice and then began working on a fouryear Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology at Northwestern. He graduated in 1986 and applied to law school. The day he was accepted at Southern University Law Center, he handed in his Natchitoches Police Department resignation. The couple moved to Baton Rouge, where Pollie worked at Sunburst Bank and her husband hit the books studying for his law degree and worked for a security company. He graduated Cum Laude in May 1990 and they moved back home to Zwolle. In October he opened his own practice and was sworn in as an Assistant District Attorney. His specialty is real estate.
Today, Brandon has two other lawyers in his San Antonio Avenue office. In 2009, his nephew, Russell Busby, joined the firm. Following graduation from Southern University Law Center in 2021, his oldest son, Heath, joined his father in the firm.
Family
In 1991, the couple welcomed their oldest son, Ronald Heath Brandon.
Three years later, in 1994, Jarred Nicolas Brandon was born. He is an Administrator in Training with Trust Care Management at Sabine Retirement and Rehabilitation in Many. Their third son, Samuel Brett Brandon, was born in 1996. Today he resides in New Orleans and is employed at the Ritz Carlton Hotel as a Guest Service Agent.
During their child-raising years, Pollie kept busy, as did her husband. He taught a Criminal Justice class at NSU for a year and worked at growing his firm. His love for law enforcement ran deep. At the time, Pollie worked at Peoples State Bank for several years.
“It was a busy year,” he said.
Opportunity knocked and the young attorney became even more busy.
In 1995 Ronnie developed his first residential subdivision, Beau Chene. The couple built their home in the subdivision, which has a view of Toledo Bend Lake.
Several years later, Ronnie branched out and developed more residential subdivisions and one commercial subdivision, to include Brandon Estates, Villages of Cypress Bend, The New Sunset, Queen of the Bend and Commercial Park.
Since he enjoyed developing subdivisions and working with real estate, he and Pollie purchased Century 21, Sabine Property Shop in 1998. He serves as Broker and has 11 agents.
The couple also owns Brandon Apartments above several storefronts on San Antonio Avenue and several other buildings in downtown. He noted that he is discussing an enlargement of his office to include the old clothing store next door.
Needless to say, Pollie helps out in all the offices and supports his endeavors with a smile.
Community
Brandon has done his fair share of community work over his career.
When his sons were involved in athletics at Ebarb High, he spent many hours, with Dixie Youth Baseball and Ebarb High baseball, coaching and offering leadership.
He served as treasurer of Dixie Youth for four years and as president for two years. He has been a Board member of the Zwolle Loggers and Forestry Festival since its inception in 1994. He has served as president and vice-president and is now treasurer. Ronnie was also instrumental in helping acquire the Zwolle Festival Grounds and has served on the board since 2001. A faithful member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Zwolle, he has served on the Pastoral Council and as an usher. Ronnie is also a members of the Knights of Columbus, Fourth Degree, which provides Guards of Honor at Mass, wakes, funerals, dedications and numerous more civic and patriotic functions.
Hobbies
In his spare time he enjoys, deer hunting, raising cattle and traveling.
He enjoys a good steak grilled on his Blackstone grill and it’s common knowledge he cooks a great gumbo, too. Ronnie prefers the color, blue; country music, especially Chris Stapleton; John Wayne westerns and his dog, Black dog. At Christmas, he and his family enjoy the classic, “It’s A Wonderful Life”.
“That is a must, every year,” he laughed. The entire family cheers for the Boston Red Sox and have been to several games over the years. They were at the 2013 World Series when the Boston Red Sox won. Time is also enjoyed on Toledo Bend Lake in their pontoon boat. Traveling, however, is the family’s passion. The entire family, including close relatives, have enjoyed numerous vacations throughout the United States. They are working on visiting all 50 states. Among some of their favorite places are Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. They have visited Chicago, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Disneyland and Disney World and many more.
Claim to Fame
Ronnie’s latest “claim to fame” is being the only Fiesta King married to a former Fiesta Queen! Pollie Sepulvado reigned as Fiesta Queen in 1978.
Known as a man of few words, he chose well when he married the personable and fun-loving Pollie. “When Ronnie says something, he means it,” she grinned. “When he speaks, his boys listen!” Needless to say, family gatherings are noisy and fun….and that’s just how Ronnie likes it.