The Legend of Madisonville's Jailbird rooster lives on
We still deal with it about once every 8 months – we'll get a complaint from somebody's rooster who is crowing..," said Mayor Pelloa.
Madisonville may be a sleepy little town but some residents don't get much sleep – as the legend of the rooster lives on.
"We still deal with it about once every eight months. We'll get a complaint about somebody's rooster who is crowing. And that's what they do, they crow every morning," Madisonville Mayor Jean Pelloat said.
Pelloat says the issue of roosters was brought up about five times at council meetings in the past year, which resulted in a new town ordinance.
"It really had to come to a head so we could move on and have other things to talk about," the mayor said. "There were several numbers that came up on what would be allowed for someone to keep in their yard. And that came down to 20 hens and one rooster."
If you're wondering which side of the fence town hall is on, all you have to do is look up. It's a new building, but a weather vane in the shape of a rooster was there when it was purchased. The rooster is a little crooked due to Hurricane Ida, perhaps representing a town divided.
Some residents see the rooster as a nuisance, and others have embraced it as the town mascot, a symbol of country living, the farm and the freedom of roaming around without being caged.
Origins of a Legend
To fully tell this story, we must take you back to where it all began over three decades ago in 1989. Ronnie and Amy Arnoult lived in town, they owned peacocks and decided to add a rooster to the mix.
"Like a chime clock, you get used to it, so the rooster never bothers us. But I guess it did bother her, you know," the Arnoults said.
A young woman who had recently moved to Madisonville lived near the couple, and she was less than thrilled about her neighbor's new addition.
The woman reportedly got caught sleeping on the job, and she blamed the Arnoults and the rooster for her getting fired. Eventually, she was so fed up she filed a lawsuit against the Arnoults.
Here's the list of grievances she sent to then-Mayor Peter Gitz:
- When I moved over here I was looking for a peaceful, quiet place to live where I could have nice neighbors and a safe neighborhood. With one notable exception, Madisonville has been everything I was looking for.
- They have a rooster that wakes me every morning between 3:30 and 4:30... I explained to them I was having difficulty at work because of a lack of sleep
- I am at the end of my rope and having been forced out of my home and out of my job because of a rooster, I will pursue this to its conclusion.
- This is definitely imposing on my rights as a citizen and should not have to be tolerated by anyone in this town.
"She said things like, 'I moved to Madisonville to enjoy the country sounds.' The town went crazy over that because what is a rooster if it's not the sound of a country sound? I felt bad for her," said the Arnoults.
A tough decision was made, and an arrest warrant was issued for the rooster for causing a "foul disturbance" within the town's limits. But he didn't go down without a fight.
Wanted posters went up, not for the rooster's capture, but for a name for this renegade. A handful of local restaurants joined together to hold a naming contest, and the names came pouring in.
More than 2,000 names were gathered before the town picked the name Reveille. And Reveille was eventually captured.
The Madisonville Museum still has his pen on display. Curator Iris Vacante took us through the history.
The media ate the story up, with each headline bringing another clever pun. And then Mayor Gitz capitalized on the attention his town was receiving - the next phase of this spectacle.
Reveille was put on trial and tried on five counts: engaging in foul play, disturbing the peace, assaulting man's best friends, breaking curfew and violating the common and public decency of the town by scratching in private areas.
About 400 people went to the trial, and the rooster was found guilty. Reveille received a life sentence, forced to appear at the town's Oktoberfest and the Madisonville boat parade.
From there, his celebrity status and town mascot duties expanded outside Madisonville's town limits. Reveille, the Arnoults and the mayor were invited to ride in New Orleans' Oktoberfest parade, riding down Canal Street. The rooster rode through the French Quarter in a big gold cage on top of a fire truck.
The Legend Lives On
Reveille eventually went flying with the angels, but someone was determined to keep this new tradition alive.
"Every time he would get run over by a car, Mayor Peter Gitz would drop another one off at my house and the story kept going," the Arnoults said. "The town made rooster crossing signs, and newspaper articles. The mayor loved it. It brought attention."
But Ronnie Arnoult said he doesn't want to speculate on who's dropping rooster in town.
"We don't lose Reveille. He seems to be a fixture. He may be younger, he may be hit by a car one day and show up again the next," he said.
The couple says about 6 months ago, someone dropped off four roosters in town, including one in their backyard. You can't drive drown any street in town without seeing a live rooster or a tribute, and it all began with the Arnoults and Reveille.
"Yeah, he was the very first one in town," Ronnie said. "They are everywhere."
As for the young woman who made the complaint in 1989, she had already left town and moved back across Lake Pontchartrain before the trial even began.
Now, around town some of the roosters have homes and others make their coops where they please.
"This is my home. I love it here and would not live anywhere else in the world. And this is part of the reason why, the country feel," Madisonville resident Johnny Brewster said.
Whether you see the rooster as a ruckus or a rockstar. He rules the roost in Madisonville. So if you're not "birds of a feather – you can flock somewhere else".
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.