BACK IN BUSINESS: Brent “Blue” Foreman, dispatcher at the Rayne Power Plant, sounds the noon whistle on Nov. 16 for the first time in months. The whistle, a long-standing tradition in Rayne and many small municipalities across the south, had been out of commission for a number of months. (Acadian-Tribune photo by Steve Bandy)
High noon in Rayne again marked by whistle
For as long as most people can remember, the noon whistle marked midday in the city of Rayne.
But, for the last few months, there has been no whistle.
Now it’s back.
“I hope it doesn’t get hung up and keep blowing,” laughed Brent “Blue” Foreman, dispatcher at the Rayne Water Department / Power Plant, as he leaned forward to hit the button at high noon on Wednesday, Nov. 16, the day the whistle was officially “recommissioned.”
“We ‘test blew’ it for a few seconds this morning and a few people called to ask what was going on,” he said.
This newspaper was among those callers.
While the “noon whistle” was traditionally used in factory towns to signify lunch break, it’s just more of a nostalgic tradition here.
The whistle — which actually sounds more like a fog horn on the Mississippi River — will sound at noon seven days a week.