LOUIS FOREMAN Born: Ridge, La., May 28, 1918, April 14, 2003. Instruments: fiddle. He started playing at about 12 years old. Style: Cajun. Award: 1993-Fred’s Wall of Fame, Mamou, La. He is the son of Albert Foreman and Lila Foreman. His father was an accordion player but Louis never was interested in playing that instrument. When he was about twelve years old, the family moved to Port Barry where Louis became friends with an old black man, he does not remember his name, who taught him the basics on the fiddle. Moving back to Louisiana and the same community of Ridge, Louis did not persue the fiddle until after he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1943. While in military service he would frequent the recreation center on base and practice playing fiddle. Musical instruments were available to service men at these centers. At the end of the second world war he was in Frankfurt Germany and had the opportunity to purchase a fiddle for a carton of cigarettes which was worth about 300 dollars at that time in Europe. He still has the fiddle. After his military service, Louis returned home and worked as a Rough Neck on oil rigs for about eighteen years. During those years and beyond he played music with many Cajun bands. After he stopped working on oil rigs he was employed by the city of Lafayette, La., where he retired in 1980.