{"id":1615,"date":"2015-01-15T01:14:38","date_gmt":"2015-01-15T01:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/?page_id=1615"},"modified":"2016-01-28T01:30:10","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T01:30:10","slug":"frenchy-boutan","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/features\/frenchy-boutan\/","title":{"rendered":"Frenchy Boutan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Because I was a child of the 1970s, being 10 years old in 1974, I knew Frenchy Boutan as a voice on Racine&#8217;s radio station, WRJN (1400 on the AM dial). However, many old Racine residents know Frenchy as an amazing pianist in Racine Motor Inn and other venues.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aacjR7tGpyM\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<em>Silent footage of backyard party with Hammond Organ studios owner, Bob Ploetz, featuring Barb Ploetz and Erv Johnson, Frenchy Boutan<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Racine Journal Times article:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/journaltimes.com\/news\/local\/racine-friend-needs-our-well-wishes\/article_5cffe263-efb8-5c84-a03c-ce9363fab7cf.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Racine Friend Needs Our Well Wishes<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Mention the name Frenchy Boutan and nearly every longtime Racine resident can relate a fond memory of listening to him entertain.<\/p>\n<p>Whether it was at Salmon-A-Rama, Roma Lodge&#8217;s Italian Festival or at any number of local events and fundraisers, Frenchy Boutan always brought a smile to our faces. Now the tables have turned and it&#8217;s our turn to bring a smile to him.<\/p>\n<p>Boutan was recently diagnosed with a very serious illness and could use a little of our support and good cheer.<\/p>\n<p>Your cards and letters of support can be directed to: \u201cNotes for Frenchy,&#8221; AM 1400 WRJN, 4201 Victory Ave., Racine, Wis. 53405.<\/p>\n<p>The get-well wishes will be forwarded to Boutan at his home in Largo, Fla.<\/p>\n<p>Boutan served as program host at WRJN Radio during the &#8217;60s, &#8217;70s and into the &#8217;80s and acted as summer fill-in host on WRJN&#8217;s \u201cOpen Line&#8221; program.<\/p>\n<p>He also was the station&#8217;s host when it broadcast from the Wisconsin State Fair each year.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to his work at the radio station, he also performed his musical act at clubs from New York to Florida and has released numerous albums and recordings over the years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/homepages.uwp.edu\/canary\/poetry\/racine.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sacred Heart Festival<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Gray now, and half retired, <strong>Frenchy Boutan<\/strong><br \/>\nstill croons old songs in the smooth baritone<br \/>\nthat filled piano bars around town<\/p>\n<p>though today he sings for free in a tent<br \/>\nat the Sacred Heart church&#8217;s summer festival,<br \/>\nwhile ladies of the church bartend<\/p>\n<p>My son and his wife always used to go<br \/>\nhear him play when they&#8217;d visit, and come home<br \/>\nlaughing, so today we sit and sip coke<\/p>\n<p>watching kids dance on the grass, while bored, tired<br \/>\ngrandchildren debate whether any ride<br \/>\nin the carnival is worth the long lines<\/p>\n<p>We are outsiders here, have always stood<br \/>\napart, amused or perhaps just wistful<br \/>\nbut when we go inside today to look<\/p>\n<p>at arts and crafts in the gymnasium<br \/>\na girl in the sash and gown of Mrs.<br \/>\nWisconsin recognizes and hugs us<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2101\" style=\"width: 306px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/12646827_486762688163570_4412150746509534495_o.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2101\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2101\" src=\"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/12646827_486762688163570_4412150746509534495_o-300x148.jpg\" alt=\"The Journal Times, Sunday, March 30, 1975\" width=\"300\" height=\"148\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2101\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/12646827_486762688163570_4412150746509534495_o-300x148.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/12646827_486762688163570_4412150746509534495_o-768x378.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/12646827_486762688163570_4412150746509534495_o-1024x505.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/12646827_486762688163570_4412150746509534495_o.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2101\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Journal Times, Sunday, March 30, 1975<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_2104\" style=\"width: 306px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/s-l1600.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2104\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2104\" src=\"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/s-l1600-300x236.jpg\" alt=\"The Frency Boutan Trio\" width=\"300\" height=\"236\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2104\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/s-l1600-300x236.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/s-l1600-768x603.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/s-l1600-1024x804.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/s-l1600.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2104\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Frency Boutan Trio<\/p><\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Because I was a child of the 1970s, being 10 years old in 1974, I knew Frenchy Boutan as a voice on Racine&#8217;s radio station, WRJN (1400 on the AM dial). However, many old Racine residents know Frenchy as an amazing pianist in Racine Motor Inn and other venues. Silent footage of backyard party with&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":33,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1615","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1615"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2105,"href":"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1615\/revisions\/2105"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vindustries.com\/racinehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}