Raising Funds & Lifting Spirits: <br>Crane Company Lends Name to Charity Music Festival

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More than 15,000 people enjoyed "Cajun music with a Rock n' Roll flair" during the Deep South Crane & Rigging Swamp Pop Festival.

July 26, 2006 -- Crane companies donate equipment, labor, time and money everyday to special causes. But how many can say they've donated their company name to a music festival? Camile Landry of Deep South Crane & Rigging stays busy each workday serving the U.S. petrochemical industry. Off the clock, he plays music with a local band. That hobby, and the willingness to help a client, has linked the maker of the mega VersaCrane® line of lattice boom cranes with a fast-growing, one-of-a-kind music festival.

The Deep South Crane & Rigging Swamp Pop Festival began nine years ago as fund-raiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation after one of Landry's clients found out his granddaughter had the disease. Head of maintenance in a Baton Rouge, La.-area chemical plant, David Eastridge asked Landry if his band would be willing to play in the first festival. Although what Landry's band played could not be considered a part of the swamp pop musical genre, he agreed.

“I paid the guys in the band that first year,” says Landry. “The next year, David asked if I'd give him the money instead. We're not a part of the club circuit,” Landry says with a laugh. “We usually play at wedding receptions and parties. So I gave him the money instead, and every year (the amount) has grown.”

Landry says eventually his contribution turned into festival sponsorship. “I was able to do a little more because I got such a warm response from my employees. They felt like they were a part of it, and we were able to give more.” Deep South is very much a part of the festival, which raised more than $200,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation this year.

But, the Baton Rouge crane construction and rental company that has leant its name to the festival remains well below the radar when it comes to the event. “We don't advertise. I think we leant them a forklift,” says Landry. “But it's not an exchange. It's all about the music and the fund-raising.”

This year, in addition to showcasing “Cajun music with a rock n' roll flair,” the Swamp Pop Festival included a classic car show, a jambalaya cook-off, a display of boats and travel trailers, and a motorcycle poker run. With 15,000 festival-goers enjoying music, food and fun during a hot July weekend, the festival is outgrowing its digs in Gonzales, La.

“It has a big following here in Louisiana, and it's really taking off.” Where ever the festival goes, though, Deep South will be a part of it -- and Eastridge's efforts on behalf of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, says Landry. “He's a good friend, and we're locked in with him.”