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Andy Perrin, chairman of the Executive Committee of the Acadian Museum, announces that the Acadian Museum will induct Douglas Villien Sr. into its Order of Living Legends on Wednesday, September 26, 2018 at 10:00 a.m.  The event will take place at Le Musée à Maurice, 218 Chief H. Fred Street, Maurice, Louisiana.
Douglas Villien, Sr. was born October 27, 1950 in Abbeville, Louisiana, the parish seat of Vermilion Parish. In 1968, after graduation from Vermilion Catholic High School, he attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette where he graduated in 1972 with a BA degree in city & regional planning and geography. While attending USL he met his wife, Karen Dubea of Marksville, Louisiana. They were married in August of 1972.
In September, 1972, Villien went to work as a city planner for the East Baton Rouge City-Parish Planning Commission in Baton Rouge until his retirement in 2001. During his semi-retirement years, he has been a private land planning consultant, an author and volunteer for the LSU Rural Life Museum at Baton Rouge and Boy Scouts of America.
Villien has maintained an interest in genealogy and local history since early childhood. His father, Dr. Paul O. Villien, Sr. of Abbeville kept meticulous ancestry records of family and facts of local history especially that of Maurice, Louisiana. The Village of Maurice was founded by Jean-Maurice Villien, Villien’s great-grandfather.
In 2009, Villien embarked on a project to write a detailed biography about Jean-Maurice Villien. However, the endeavor turned into an in depth research project on the history of the town and its 100 years of growth. In December 2011, Villien’s works were incorporated into an extensive special edition in the Abbeville Meridional, celebrating the village’s 100th birthday. In his book Between the Crossroads: A Centennial History of Maurice, Louisiana, Villien chronicles the one hundred year evolution of Maurice and the settlers who came to colonize on Prairie Vermilion. His book was the first to examine the history of this community. In this work he provides an overview of settlers and their role in development of early commerce and institutions. From family collections, ecclesiastical registers, federal census reports and municipal records he unveils a collection of wonderful information about a modern day hamlet in south Louisiana.
In 2012, Villien ventured onto a second book project which was fostered by research conducted on Maurice history. A one hundred year old photo album, preserved by his grandmother, contained dozens of rare and never before published images of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The photo album was given to Maude Gaidry (Villien) by William B. Hart. The two never married, but she kept the album until she died. Following three years of research, the album became the basis for a book entitled, Forgotten Baton Rouge, a best seller among history books in the Baton Rouge area. The book covers the progressive period between the 1890s and 1930s, a period of Baton Rouge’s greatest growth. The album is now on permanent display in the Louisiana State Library. The Old State Capitol Museum at Baton Rouge recently held a sixty day exhibit containing images from his grandmother’s album and his book Forgotten Baton Rouge. In 2016 he was a featured author and speaker at the Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge.
In 2016, Villien completed a third book entitled The Artwork of Doug Villien: A collection of lifelong sketches. Villien has been an artist his entire life. He has enjoyed the title of being a “Sunday Artist,” however, he endeavored as a part time commercial artist for more than forty years. Many of the sketches in his book preserve and capture the details of folklife and wildlife in south Louisiana.
In 2018, he finished his fourth book, Des Montagnes aux Prairies / From Mountains to Prairies. This work illustrated by Villien, depicts over thirty hand painted scenes. Each scene describes a telling piece of village history which includes narratives about its founder and villagers. The Village of Maurice celebrates its existence of more than a century as a French and English-speaking town in southwest Louisiana. This work is intended to preserve local history and cultural heritage which define its locale. It is presented in French and English for the purpose of advancing and supporting Louisiana’s francophone initiatives.
Villien and his siblings have been supporting members and contributors in the efforts spearheaded by the Maurice Historical Preservation Society. The society now owns and operates Le Musée à Maurice. Le Musée is a true artifact of the village as it was once a part of the home and store of Jean-Maurice Villien.
His works have been featured in Country Roads Magazine, The Meridional, The Daily Advertiser, The Advocate, American Press, Tarentaise Hebdo (Vulmix, France) and other regional newspapers. Villien and his wife Karen have been residents of Baton Rouge and parishioners of St. George Catholic Church for 44 years. They have three children and five grandchildren.
For more information, you may call 937-0012, and visitwww.acadianmuseum.com to view a complete list of all prior inductees.

February 28, 1931 ~ August 28, 2018

KAPLAN — Wake services will be conducted for Florine Joiner Gamble of Kaplan on Wednesday, September 12, 2018 from 5:00 PM until 9:00 PM with a rosary being prayed at 7:00 PM at Vincent Funeral Home of Kaplan. She will await the resurrection in the Inglewood Cemetery in Inglewood, California.
On Tuesday morning at 2:00 AM, the death angel visited Eastridge Nursing Home and bore the soul of our loved one, Sis. Florine Joiner Gamble. Sis. Florine was born on February 28, 1931 in Kaplan, Louisiana to Mr. Arthur Joiner and Mrs. Eva Mouton Joiner. She was reared in Kaplan and later moved to Los Angeles and lived there for more than 30 years. She met and married her husband, Curtis Gamble. They owned and operated Curtis Gamble Realty and several Board and Care Homes in Los Angeles for many years. After retirement they decided to move to Las Vegas where they remained until Mr. Gamble’s death. Mrs. Florine then decided to move back home in Kaplan to be with her family. She and her sister, Mrs. Belle would often be seen riding and visiting friends together. She has been a resident with her sister in Eastridge Nursing Home for several years.
She leaves to cherish her memories, one daughter, Gwendolyn H. Rice (Ernest Sr.) of Abbeville; three step-daughters, Lois G. Grundy of Lancaster, TX, Thelma McCoy of Dallas, TX, and Yvonne Haynes of Dallas, TX; three grandchildren; seven great grandchildren; one brother-in-law, Minor Wright of Abbeville; and a host of nieces, nephews, relatives, and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Arthur and Eva Mouton Joiner; her husband, Curtis Gamble; three sisters, Annie Mae J. Grogan, Doris J. Wright, and Mary Belle J. Duhon; one brother, Arthur Joiner, Jr.; two brothers-in-law, Murray Grogan, Sr. and Dennis Duhon; five sisters-in-law, Thelma Joiner, Robbie Lee Hill, Pearl Billips, Faye Stewart, and Lurline Jordan; one step-son, Curtis Gamble, Jr.; two step-granddaughters, Penny LeGendee and Francis Neal; and two nephews, Larry Grogan and Wayne Grogan.

The Vermilion Parish Police Jury is ready to release its new debris pickup schedule for the parish.
For the last few months, the police jury grab trucks have been experimenting with a new debris pickup schedule. Now, the police jury is ready to release the schedule to the public, as well as, educate the public on what type of debris can be put alongside the road.
“By parish residents knowing the police jury’s schedule, it will let them know when they can put out their debris,” explained police juror Errol Domingues. “If you have debris and the police jury will not be in your zone until the end of the month, then you wait and put it along the road at the end of the month. There is no guessing as to when your debris will be picked up.”
Since the beginning of time, each district had its grab trucks that would rotate throughout the month. No longer. Now, the police jury will send all of its grab trucks to one of three newly created zones and blanket the zone in debris pickup.
The police jury is expected to mail an 8x10 paper to every resident in the parish explaining the new zone pick up schedule.
At the beginning of each month, the police jury’s grab trucks will be in Zone 1 for 10 days. Zone 1 is comprised of Districts 1, 2, 10,12 and 14.
District 1 and 2 are in the North Vermilion area, while Districts 10 and 12 are in Kaplan. District 14 is Gueydan and the surrounding Gueydan area.
Zone 2 consist of Districts 5, 9A (west of the Vermilion River), 11 and 13. The police jury will meet in Zone 2 from 11th to the 20th of each month. This zone is most of Abbeville and north of Abbeville.
The third zone is Zone 3, which will be from 21st until the end of the month.
Zone 3 will consist of the south part of Abbeville, in police juror’s Ron Darby’s district, then north and south of Abbeville and Erath. It will also include of all of Erath, Delcambre and south of both towns.
South of Abbeville, the Vermilion River will determine which zone you are in.
If you live on the west side of the Vermilion River south of Abbeville, then the debris pickup will be in Zone 2. If you live on the east side of the Vermilion River (Boston, Henry area), then you are in Zone 3.
Police Juror Wayne Touchet explained that the districts in each zone are not final.
“We are still ironing out the pickup schedule,” said Touchet.

What can be put along the road?

The Police Jury is trying to educate the public on what type of debris should and should not be placed alongside the road.
The police jury is expected to mail out an 8x10 paper to every resident in the parish educating them on the items to put debris along the road.

What type of roadside debris should be placed alongside the road?

Roadside debris should be separated into three categories.
• Construction and demolition debris (lumber, wood, brick, plumbing, plaster, and sheetrock).
• Yard waste (small branches, plant shrubs, and logs no longer than six feet long and 18 inches in diameter).
• The police jury is also able to pick up furniture, mattresses, vacuum cleaners, carpet, plastic items, and electronics).
What the police jury will not pick up are paint, aerosols, acids, roofing shingles, batteries, used antifreeze and oil.
The police jury will accept these items at the landfill, but it will not pick it up alongside the road: waste tires, white goods, large trees, demolished homes, and large appliance boxes.
• The police jury wants residents to place household items in their 96-gallon trash-can instead of putting alongside the road.
• Items such as toys, food waste, clothes, curtains/blind, pots, small appliances and bagged leaves should go in the trash can, the police jury wants.
The landfill, located north of Abbeville, is open six days a week. Monday through Friday ( 7 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.) and on Saturday from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m.
For questions, you can call the solid waste department at 898-4338.

When the game was on the line, the Vermilion Catholic Eagles answered in a big way.
Sophomore kicker John Robert Allums kicked two field goals in the final three minutes of the game to help his team beat Opelousas Catholic 26-23 on Friday.
The young man nailed a 25-yarder with 15 seconds to play, giving the Eagles the dramatic 26-23 win over the Class 2A team.
“Our kicker has ice in his veins,” said VC head coach Kevin Fouquier.
Allums kicked a 27-yard field goal with 2:44 to play in the game that tied the game 23-23.
OC had a chance to march downfield and score the game-winning points, but VC senior defensive back Ethan Lege intercepted the OC pass that set up the game-winning field goal.
VC had a fourth and one with 22 seconds to play in the game. A timeout was called. Instead of kicking it, the Eagles elected to go for it. VC got the break it needed when OC jumped offside to move the ball closer to the goal line.
Fouquier did not waste any time and went to his kicker, and Allums delivered.
The Vermilion Catholic Eagles had success in the air. Drew Lege completed 14 out of 26 for 263-yards, and he threw for two TDs. Ethan Lege had seven catches for 104-yards.
One area Fouquier was not happy with was the penalties. The Eagles had 10 penalties for 90-yards.
In the first half, Drew completed a 85-yard pass to Camden Sellers for a touchdown. Drew then completed a 23 yard TD pass to Garret Wiggins, making the score 12-7 at halftime.
VC will be on the road to play Erath on Friday.