Clara Habetz
German American traditions
Acadia Parish's German heritage can still be seen not only in local family names but also in cooking, language, and festival traditions. Although many Germans intermarried with local Cajun families and became largely acculturated to the French Louisiana culture, pockets of German culture remain in the parish.
Robert's Cove, for instance, has maintained many aspects of its German culture. St. Leo Catholic Church's choir sings traditional German hymns, carols and folk songs. For more than fifty years, the community has celebrated the coming of the Christmas season with an Old World St. Nicholas celebration. On December 4 (the eve of the feast of St. Nicholas), members representing Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, and Black Peter (a Turkish boy who assists St. Nicholas,) and accompanied by the St. Leo Church Choir, visit homes where they are welcomed with lavish meals. At each home, St. Nicholas shakes the children's hands and speaks to them. Santa Claus and Black Peter then enter and give the children candy and the choir sings carols in German.
Community leader Clara Habetz has been active in ensuring that these and other German traditions are maintained. A specialist in German American folklore, she was born in Robert's Cove in 1914, the third of twelve children of Franziska and Wilhelm Habetz. She attended St. Leo Parochial School where she was taught both German and English.
Miss Habetz says that she learned about German American traditions like the St. Nicholas procession from parents about 1940. She has kept the German language alive in her family by encouraging relatives to speak German at home and by corresponding with relatives in Germany. She has visited Germany twice and is frequently asked to act as an interpreter for German visitors.
She has been the sacristan at St. Leo Catholic Church for more than 40 years and has been the cook and housekeeper for the rectory for the last 45 years. She also has served as the organist for the church choir for more than 50 years. Miss Habetz has also served in many community leadership positions, including president of the Acadia Parish Homemakers' Council.
Roberts Cove community members demonstrated the St. Nicholas procession at the 1992 Louisiana Folklife Festival and the St. Leo Choir performed German carols there.
