LSU Fans Arrive

Maudie Schmitt, center, owner of Cafe Rue Orleans in Fayetteville, turns a turkey in a fryer Thursday with the help of her brother Thomas Schmitt. Maudie is cooking a large Thanksgiving meal for 70 friends and family, some of whom have come to Fayetteville for football game between the University of Arkansas and Louisiana State University.
Maudie Schmitt, center, owner of Cafe Rue Orleans in Fayetteville, turns a turkey in a fryer Thursday with the help of her brother Thomas Schmitt. Maudie is cooking a large Thanksgiving meal for 70 friends and family, some of whom have come to Fayetteville for football game between the University of Arkansas and Louisiana State University.

— Wearing a purple apron with the words “LSU certified tailgate chef” emblazoned across the front, Claude Foster pulled an 11-pound turkey from a turkey fryer just before noon Thursday.

Foster and his wife, Mary, traveled to Fayetteville from Vick, La., by recreational vehicle and were camped at Road Hog Park along with other fans of both the Louisiana State University Tigers and the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Fosters were preparing for a Thanksgiving feast to be shared with about a dozen friends from Louisiana who also had come by RV.

By the Numbers

Tigers vs. Razorbacks

The results of the last five games between the Louisiana State and Arkansas football teams:

-Nov. 25, 2011: LSU 41, Arkansas 17 (at Baton Rouge)

-Nov. 27, 2010: Arkansas 31, LSU 23 (at Little Rock)

-Nov. 28, 2009: LSU 33, Arkansas 30 (OT) (at Baton Rouge)

-Nov. 28, 2008: Arkansas 31, LSU 30 (at Little Rock)

-Nov. 23, 2007: Arkansas 50, LSU 48 (3OT) (at Baton Rouge)

Source: Staff Report

“We love this facility,” Foster said about the Fayetteville park. “I wish we had something like it.”

For the Fosters, who regularly attend LSU football games, this was their first trip to Fayetteville. The last time the annual LSU-Arkansas game was played in Fayetteville was 1992, Arkansas’ first year in the SEC. Every year since, the game has been played in either Little Rock or Baton Rouge, La.

The Fosters made sure to pack plenty of home cooking for their trip.

“Last night we had gumbo,” said Claude Foster, 69. “Tomorrow we’ll have jambalaya.”

Across the lot, twin brothers Jerry and Terry Jones, 55, sat outside their RVs watching television. They had come with their wives and one of Terry’s children. Nearby was a propane oven, which stood ready for a turkey.

There was no doubting which team they supported. They wore LSU fleeces and hats, sat underneath canopies decorated with purple and yellow lights, and even drank beer from LSU koozies.

They, too, were on their first trip to Fayetteville.

“This is nice because of the scenery,” said Jerry Jones of Baton Rouge. “We don’t have topography in Louisiana.”

They were cautious when asked to predict the outcome of today’s game.

“I think it will be closer than a lot of people think,” said Terry Jones, of Houston.

Elsewhere in Fayetteville, Cajun-style restaurants were busy this week preparing for the big game.

Lyn DeFelice, who owns Lyn D’s Cajun Gypsy Cafe on West Poplar Street, spent the week preparing food for family visiting from Lake Charles, La., and for several tailgate parties Friday.

DeFelice said a popular dish this year has been brew soup, a creamy boil made using shrimp, crawfish and brown beer from Fossil Cove Brewing Co. in Fayetteville. She and husband John were also deep-frying turkeys and cooking red beans and rice, shrimp etouffee, jambalaya and chicken and sausage gumbo to prepare for today’s game.

DeFelice said, as a Louisiana native who’s lived in Northwest Arkansas for more than 14 years, she’ll be wearing tiger ears and a hog nose.

“I cheer for whoever has the ball,” DeFelice said. “I think (the game) should have always been up here. I’m excited. I hope they continue doing this and won’t wait another 20 years.”

Maudie Schmitt, a New Orleans native who owns Cafe Rue Orleans on North College Avenue, said having the LSU-Arkansas game in Fayetteville this year “is like winning the lottery.”

“It changes everything for us,” Schmitt said. “Instead of us being dead, we’ll be busy, busy, busy. People from LSU and south Louisiana, they like to eat, and part of the trip is for the game, but the other part is coming to town for the holiday.”

Schmitt, chairwoman of the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission, said the influx of LSU fans in Fayetteville also will be a boon to the economy.

“I think Fayetteville will roll out the red carpet and welcome LSU fans and show them what Fayetteville’s all about,” Schmitt said. “I expect it to be a great weekend.”

During most football weekends in Fayetteville, almost every hotel in Washington and Benton counties is full.

Delaney Broyles, guest services representative at the Courtyard by Marriott on East Van Asche Drive, said she expects all rooms to be booked through the holiday weekend. As of Wednesday, however, rooms were still available, Broyles said. The Courtyard backed off its policy this weekend for a minimum two-night stay.

“If the team was doing better, we’d be doing a lot better,” Broyles said. “We’ll end up selling out, but our (football team’s) record hasn’t helped hotel sales at all.”

Brothers Greg and Andy Smith, along with their friend Rusty Welch, all LSU graduates from Baton Rouge, were among those staying at the Embassy Suites in Rogers this week. On Thursday they ate breakfast with family friends at the hotel.

They weren’t worried about what they would be eating on Thanksgiving. They were more concerned about what would be cooking during an LSU tailgate today.

Welch said they are part of a large group of college friends who follow the Tigers. He said friends host tailgating parties when the team plays in their region. When the games are in Louisiana, he along with the Smiths host the party.

“When we cook, we feed 100 to 125 people,” Welch said. “We purchase 50 pounds of assorted meats a game. We don’t buy premade burgers, we cook homemade burgers. It is fun. It is a great way to spend time with family and friends.”

Noting the last time LSU played in Fayetteville was 20 years ago, Andy Smith joked this weekend’s hosts had a lot of tailgates to make up for.

The group was uncertain how they would spend the rest of their time in the region, but discussed visiting the Daisy Museum in Rogers, along with visiting friends.

Staff writers Joel Walsh, Dave Perozek and Teresa Moss contributed to this report.

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