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The North Vermilion Lady Patriots headed south down 167 Thursday night and scored a four-set victory over the Vermilion Catholic Lady Eagles at Kim Guidry Gym, 20-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-18.
The gym was packed, and the intensity was high as the two rivals took the court. NV head coach Ashly Boudreaux thought playing against familiar faces gave her team a boost.
“They all know each other,” Boudreaux said. “They play other sports together and they’re friends. I have two nieces (Anna and Audrey Boudreaux) on the other side of the net. I told them we’re not friends right now. We can be friends after. It was really competitive and fun.”
Coming into the game, Boudreaux remembered the trouble the lower ceiling in the VC gym gave her team last year. She prepared them for it this year.
“We killed ourselves making sure we didn’t hit it in the roof,” Boudreaux said. “We have PTSD from last year. It’s a real thing.”
The Lady Eagles (6-5) jumped ahead 10-4 in the opening set while NV struggled to find its serve. The Lady Pats got as close as three before VC won the set by five.
“We did not serve well tonight,” Boudreaux said. “We had 27 missed serves. That’s hard to overcome.”
The Lady Pats (4-3) jumped ahead 3-0 in the second set before VC went on an 8-1 run to claim the early four-point lead, 8-4. NV then went on a 14-3 run to take control of the set at 18-11. They went on to win it by 10 and tie the match at 1-1.
Stevie Brasseaux’s net play sparked the turnaround. The senior blocked several balls on her own and also teamed up with super sophomore Ashante Rose to double block a few more. Boudreaux was most impressed with the success Brasseaux had on the offensive end, especially with freshman setter Annalise Marix.
“What we needed was for the setters to start finding her,” Boudreaux said. “That chemistry is starting to happen. It’s taking a while to get that going, but they’re going to do great things.”
In the third set, NV jumped out to a 10-5 lead and never looked back. They extended the lead to 15-8 and 23-15 before winning the set by six and taking a 2-1 match lead.
NV jumped ahead 10-6 in the final set. They stretched the lead to 21-14 before winning the set by a touchdown and the match 3-1.
VC head coach Kristin Son thought the match came down to serving.
“Serving played a huge part in this game,” Son said. “They struggled with it early and we were able to take advantage.”
She also thought the Lady Pats’ offensive execution was something her team needed to witness.
“They have a lot of offense, and they run it quick,” Son continued. “My girls hadn’t seen that yet this year. I thought they handled it well, but they are a lot of areas we need to clean up.”
The Lady Pats host Iowa on Tuesday for their only game next week. The Lady Eagles travel to Eunice on Tuesday before hosting the Abbeville Lady Wildcats on Thursday.

On Nov. 15, voters will decide a millage renewal for the Vermilion Parish School System.
The 10-year renewal, initially approved by voters in 1996, is for a 10-mill property tax. The funds generated from the 10 mills support transportation, instructional programs, and a roofing and AC maintenance initiative.
Vermilion Parish Superintendent Tommy Byler is making the rounds ahead of Nov. 15. Byler is attending meetings for municipalities, government entities, and civic organizations to share details about the renewal. Byler spoke to members of the Kiwanis Club of Abbeville on Tuesday.
“This is presentation No. 4 of about 40 I have planned,” Byler said. “One of the things I pride myself on is being transparent.”
Not to assume everyone knows how a millage works, Byler explained that it is $1 on every $1,000 of property one owns, with the first $75,000 falling under the Homestead exemption. 
“There are some who don’t pay this at all,” Byler said, “but they vote. If your property value is under $75,000, it’s not affecting you, but this millage does affect services for your kids.”
Those services from this millage are etched in stone, Byler said. It’s the same language from 1996, which saw a 71% approval rating, was renewed in 2006 (74% approval), and was renewed again in 2015 (86% approval).
“We have never changed the wording on this,” Byler said. “Obviously, if you change the language on any of this, it becomes a tax. This is a renewal.”
Byler said the school system had looked into installing new cameras on buses using these millage funds.
“We wrote to the attorney general for review,” Byler said. “He said, no, because this millage is for the purchase of new buses and maintenance of buses. By putting a new camera, you are upgrading a bus. That is neither of the things that are written into the millage.”
In a given year, the millage can generate $2.5 million to $3.5 million, based on the valuation from the Vermilion Parish Tax Assessor’s Office. According to information provided by Byler, the millage is broken down into the following categories:
• 5 mills - roofing and air conditioning maintenance
• 3 mills - instructional (curriculum and technology materials)
• 2 mills - transportation (bus purchases and maintenance)
The dollar amount for each category is an estimated:
• 5 mills - $1.4 to $1.6 million
• 3 mills - $950,000 to $1.1 million
• 2 mills - $650,000 to $750,000
“These are operational costs,” Byler said. “These $3 million in costs aren’t going away. This is something that we have to have every year. If we don’t have the millage, we have to go find it somewhere else to pay these bills.”
Byler said this millage has helped Vermilion further its commitment to transportation. Since this millage originally passed, the school system has purchased 216 new buses. Since 2020, all buses ordered have included air conditioning. Adding air conditioning to existing buses constitutes an upgrade, not maintenance.
“All school buses purchased with the millage monies are indicated on each bus with a ‘M’ in front of the number,” Byler said. “All of our buses in our current fleet have M on them.”
Every student on those buses will also have Google Chromebooks. That is part of the changing landscape in education.
“We have very few textbooks,” Byler said. “It’s digital subscriptions, and you pay by the year. The state dictates the curriculum to use, and a majority of it is digital. That is an ongoing cost. We used to be able to replace textbooks every five to six years.”
The millage also helps repair computers and other technology within the school system.
“This millage covers about 40-50% of the needs in computers and curriculum,” Byler said. “We have to cover the other part.”
Every school in the parish is covered by a roof and cooled by an AC. This millage helps to cover the cost of maintenance.
“Every school in the parish has brand-new roofing and air conditioning,” Byler said. “Hurricanes and FEMA have helped on some of that.”
An essential aspect of the millage when it comes to air conditioning is that it has allowed school officials to be proactive.
“We have service contracts for our air conditioners,” Byler said. “That has saved us about $5.6 million in two years. We’re getting about 10 to 12 years more out of our units. The last unit we changed was valued at $3.4 million. With this sustainable amount of money, we’re able to enroll in a program that provides us with a clear understanding of our costs. Beforehand, you hoped you had money in the pot.”
Having this millage also allows Vermilion to maximize MFP funding, money the local school system receives per student. That number has dropped, as families have sought other options, including charter schools. 
“When you tax yourself,” Byler explained, “your MFP formula goes up. Not only is it a $3.5 million millage, but it’s also about $1.5 million extra in MFP that we would lose.
“We tax ourselves, and we you get rewarded for that.”
Byler added that millage funding, along with excess MFP funding, has enabled stability in budgeting, allowing for numerous safety and security enhancements. Numerous educational and cultural programs have also been created.
“We have done a great job of managing our funds,” Byler said. “We are watching our budget and making cuts and adjustments where necessary.”
Election Day is Saturday, Nov. 15. Early voting will be open from Saturday, Nov. 1, to Saturday, Nov. 8.

Is it possible that the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Detective Unit will relocate to the cultural and historical center in the old library in downtown Abbeville? Not if a group of concerned Vermilion Parish residents has anything to say about it.
For the past few years, tenants in the former Hibernia Bank building on Charity Street have housed the Sheriff’s detective unit, located on the second and third floors of the old bank building.
The Vermilion Parish Police Jury owns the building and allocates approximately $20,000 each month for its upkeep, although it does not receive any rental income from the tenants.
Consequently, over the past year, the police jury has directed the tenants residing in the building to seek alternative accommodations, as it intends to sell the old Hibernia building.
The sole remaining tenant is the detective unit, but locating a new building in Abbeville for them has proven to be quite challenging.
For the past decade, the cultural center has been leased by the city of Abbeville, and in February, the lease expired. The police jury reached out to Sheriff Eddie Langlinais regarding the potential relocation of the detective unit to the two-story cultural center.
Last week, two deputies from the Sheriff’s office measured the Cultural Center building to assess its square footage and evaluate whether it would be a suitable location for relocation.
It was during this time that members of the cultural center, along with the tourism department, became aware of the ongoing discussions between the Sheriff’s Office and the Police Jury.
At Wednesday’s police jury meeting, the cultural and historical center was a topic on the agenda. Members from the Giant Omelette Celebration, along with other organizations that use the cultural and historical center, attended the police jury meeting to object to the closure of the cultural and historical center and the relocation of the Sheriff’s office into the building.
For the last 20 years, the Giant Omelette Celebration has used the cultural and historical center as its headquarters for meetings.
 “It would be devastating to the Giant Omelette celebration,” said Meg Hebert, treasurer of the organization.
“Moving out of this building would truly destroy everything that hundreds of us civic people, civic citizens of the city of Abbeville and parish, have worked towards,” said  Elray Schexnaider, who has been with the Giant Omelette Celebration since Day 1. “It is beyond my comprehension why y’all would make us move out of the building.”
Bonnie Broussard, a high-ranking member of the Omelette Celebration, added, “I do not like the Sheriff’s Office being downtown.”
The police jury has decided to allow Abbeville Mayor Roslyn White six months to explore alternative options for finding a building for the Sheriff’s Detective Unit. In the meantime, the cultural and historical center will continue to operate.
Neither Mayor White nor any members of the city council attended the meeting of the police jury.

While the most recent blooming fields of yellow that make up Sunflowers For St. Jude have faded, the future for the local fundraising effort certainly remains bright.
This marks year eight of the Romaine family using their fields to raise funds to go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. The fields are located on Romaine Road in Kaplan.
“It’s busier and busier every year,” Ashlyn Romaine said. “There tends to be a steady stream of people all day, from those who come to photograph sunrises to those who come to photograph sunsets and ALL day in between. My husband, Durel, is near and around there and sees a steady stream all day!”
The field is open 24 hours per day, seven days a week, only limited by daylight and weather. Updates on blooms are made on the Sunflowers for St. Jude Facebook page. Romaine said guests often share their photos on the social media page.
“It’s amazing to see the field through the eyes of our visitors,” Romaine said. “They share photos to Facebook in our group and we love seeing them! Whole photography clubs have come out. We’ve had visitors from as far as Texas and Houma and Mandeville.”
Visitors can make donations for use of the fields.
“We are 100% donation based,” Romaine said. “We do ask professional photographers who wish to come with clients to contact us first. Bring clippers, a bucket and water for the blooms for the way home. Furry friends are welcome on a leash. We can never guarantee how long the blooms will last, so we always encourage people to come sooner as opposed to later!
“We’re sad when we have to reply to messages with ‘the field is done.’”
When it comes to those donations, 100% goes to St. Jude. During the past eight years, the Romaines have sent approximately $50,000 to St. Jude.
“Seed, labor and any improvements that we make are our donations,” Romaine said. Over the years, we’ve added benches, a welcome stand, a guest book, (two red wagons, a tricycle,) and a picnic table (this was donated by my in-laws).”
Yes, there is plenty of work that goes into this project, which began when the Romaine’s daughter, Catherine, wanted to take her senior photos in a sunflower field. They found a local one and after showing her dad one of the photos, he planted a four-acre field of sunflowers for her.
“Honestly, Durel and the Lord have the hard part,” Romaine said of her husband, who is a rice farmer. “Durel preps the field, plants the seed and does his magic to keep the weeds out. He and his guys maintain the parking area for us. I get to yap with visitors! It does not feel like work, but it’s hot and humid and enjoyable.
“I go home each evening feeling very thankful for our amazing community that makes this happen.”
Meeting the visitors, both locally and from out of state, resonates most strongly with Romaine.
“My favorite part of this whole thing is meeting our community,” Romaine said. “We’ve met St. Jude patients and families. We’ve met parents who have lost children to cancer, many, many years ago, who never made it to St. Jude for treatment, but still come to support our efforts.
“We meet people in all seasons of life — celebrating anniversaries, celebrating heavenly birthdays of loved ones, pregnancy photos, gender reveals, marriage proposals (our own son proposed in our field!), engagement photos. I’ve had people tell me that they just sat in the field and had a talk with God about their grief and sadness. We’ve had people come for family photos and hearing the giggles and laughter is heartwarming.”
“People tell us thank you, but again it’s the community that makes it happen!”