The designs for this year’s Tamale Fiesta shirts have been released and shows tribute to the important role the railroad has taken in the development of both Zwolle and Sabine Parish.
This shirt design idea took months to finish with two artists working on it that live in two completely different states and over 400 miles apart.
Since 1976, artists Larry Chagnon of Clyde, Ohio, and Ken Bailey of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, have been collaborating on “Joint Rails” train drawings. Ken draws the trains, and Larry draws the landscapes/backgrounds.
Artist Ken Bailey produces a superhero comic book series entitled The Mighty Energy Girl, which to date has more than 40 titles.
Larry Chagnon has ties to our area. His mother, Laverne Ebarb Chagnon, spent her entire childhood in Ebarb, she was born in Shreveport. Laverne is the child of Walter and Mattie Meshell Ebarb descends of Jose Acario Ybarbo which means they have Choctaw Apache in their blood line. Larry’s sister, Kathy Cooper, along with her husband, Paul, recently moved here from Ohio.
The Train Tribute Tamale Fiesta T-shirt honors the Town of Zwolle being 125 years old this year and is just in time for the Zwolle Depot Museum, which is opening soon thanks in part to the Zwolle-Ebarb VFW Memorial post 5187.
Pictured in the design is a Kansas City Southern Railway Southern Belle Passenger train, which ran between Kansas City Missouri and New Orleans by way of Shreveport from the 1940s to the 1960s. Service originally began on Sept 2, 1940. There were only two “E-series” passenger diesel engines (six-axle) that were painted white, passenger cars kept the original KCS colors until 1969, when all KCS passenger Service was discontinued.
This year’s tribute t-shirt has 50 state flags around the Depot and Train picture to pay tribute to The Zwolle-Ebarb VFW Memorial post 5187’s Freedom Circle that honors the brave servicemen and women.
The three Tamale Fiesta shirts will be available to purchase at Sabine State Bank in Zwolle after 1 p.m. on Friday, September 8.
Shirt prices are the same as last year: Short Sleeve $25; Long Sleeve $30 Train Tribute Shirt Only; Youth Shirts $20. Add $5 more per shirt for 3X and 4X sizes