RSS Feed

Article Image Alt Text

Marcella Hernandez Broussard

March 11, 1963 ~ July 16, 2018

ABBEVILLE — Funeral services will be held at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, July 18, 2018 at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville honoring the life of Marcella Jean Hernandez Broussard, 55, who died Monday, July 16, 2018 at The Carpenter House of St. Joseph Hospice. She will be laid to rest at St. Paul Cemetery with Fr. François Sainte-Marie officiating the services.
Marcella is survived by her husband, Tony Broussard; two daughters, Chastity Broussard and Mindy Broussard; three grandchildren, Amari Broussard, Christian Broussard and Jaylen Levier; mother, Helen LeMaire Hernandez; and four brothers, Kelly Hernandez, Phillip Hernandez, Jerome Hernandez and Jason Hernandez.
She was preceded in death by her father, Eldest Hernandez; brother, Derwin Hernandez; and granddaughter, Jayla Broussard.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Tuesday, July 17, 2018 from 10:00 AM until 10:00 PM with a rosary being prayed at 7:00 PM; Wednesday, July 18, 2018 from 8:00 AM until time of services.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, (337) 893-4661.

Article Image Alt Text

Revis Gaspard

COW ISLAND—A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, July 18, 2018 at St. Anne Catholic Church honoring the life of Revis John Gaspard, 88, who died Sunday, July 15, 2018 at Eastridge Nursing Center. He will be laid to rest at LeMaire Cemetery with Reverend Keith Landry officiating the services.
He is survived by his loving wife of 68 years, Melba Gaspard of Forked Island; his two sons, Bradley Gaspard and his wife, Arlene of Erath and Jerry Gaspard of Forked Island; his two brothers, Junior Gaspard and his wife Mae Rose of Port Neches, TX and Nelton Gaspard and his wife Joyce, of Kaplan; and his seven grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his son, Randall Gaspard; his parents, Eudon Gaspard and the former Felice Harrington; and his sister, Verna G. Dartez.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Kaplan, 300 N. Eleazar Ave., on Tuesday, July 17, 2018 from 11:00 AM until 9:00 PM with a rosary being prayed at 7:00 PM; Wednesday, July 18, 2018 from 8:00 AM until the procession departs for the church.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Kaplan, (337) 643-7276 [Service Information 225-5276]. Condolences may be sent to the Gaspard family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.

Article Image Alt Text

One of the citizens who attended Wednesday’s meeting looks over a rendering of the project.

Citizens receive closer look at Abbeville Streetscaping project

During Thursday’s open house meeting, the Abbeville City Council answered questions from the public regarding the latest proposed LA-14 Downtown ...

PLEASE LOG IN FOR PREMIUM CONTENT. Our website requires visitors to log in to view the best local news. Not yet a subscriber? Subscribe today to the Abbeville Meridional or Gueydan Journal or Kaplan Herald.

Article Image Alt Text

The North Vermilion Youth Association 9-10 year old All-Stars captured the Mustang Super Region Tournament early Friday morning in Abbeville. NV beat SLYSI of Lafayette 17-14 . The game began at 9 p.m. on Thursday and ended Friday, just after midnight. The all-stars will be traveling to Deer Park, Texas on July 25 to compete in the PONY Zone tournament. The members of the team are kneeling (L-R) Jackson Romero, Kaine Stevens, James Higginbotham: Standing (L-R): Braylon Himel, Caleb Whitlock, Coach Jason Broussard, Caleb Hebert, Aiden F everjean, Coach Clay Young, Mason Hargrave, Cooper Petrey, Jax Smith and Wyatt Kline. Missing from the picture is Coach Steven Romero & Joshua Ruppert

Super Region Champions: North Vermilion Gets It Done

All-Stars win three-hour slug fest against SLYSI

Good things come to those who wait.
The 10-year-old North Vermilion All-Stars have waited three years for this to happen.
Early Friday morning, at around 12:02 a.m., the North Vermilion All-Stars were celebrating their 17-14 victory over SLYSI of Lafayette. The game began Thursday at about 9 p.m. and ended just after midnight.
With the win, they have qualified to play in Deer Park, Texas for the next round. The tournament begins on July 25.
Last year, with most of the same boys, the club finished third in the same tourney.
Now, they can call themselves the Mustang Super Region Champions.
Clay Young is the head coach of the all-stars. Throughout the final game, he remained calm despite not watching his team’s best performance of the tournament.
‘The boys played well tonight,” said Young. “They never quit, and they fought hard. It was not our best game of the tournament, but they did not give up.”
The 17 runs were the most runs North Vermilion scored in the tourney. The all-stars won games by a score of 8-6, 8-4 and 13-10.
It looked like North Vermilion was going to blow out SLYSI after scoring four runs in the first inning. But the Lafayette team rallied and tied the game 4-4 after the first inning.
By the second inning, the score was tied 8-8. It was not until the third inning that North Vermilion finally stopped SLYSI from scoring the same amount of runs.
By the end of the third inning, NV led 12-9.
In the top of the fourth inning, Jackson Romero singled over third base, and Jax Smith also singled that made the score 14-9.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, SLYSI was held scoreless. Pitcher Caleb Hebert was on the mound at the time. He got two out of three batters to strike out, giving his team a 14-10 lead with one more inning to play.
The all-stars looked like they wanted to put the game away in the top of the sixth inning. Three straight singles by Braylon Himel, James Higginbotham, Cooper Petrey and Jax Smith put North Vermilion ahead 17-10 with half an inning to play.
Things got a little shaky in the bottom of the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, Young changed pitchers and moved Hebert to third base and put third baseman Cooper Petrey on the hill.
He got the next batter to ground out, but a run scored (17-12). Petrey struck out the next batter, but an SLYSI runner on third base stole home to make the game interesting.
With two outs and NV winning 17-14, the next batter grounded out to first base to end the game.
North Vermilion scored 17 runs on 13 hits. They only committed two errors.
NV shortstop Jax Smith led his team at the plate, going 4-for-5 at the plate. He also knocked in five runs, and he scored two runs. James Higginbotham and Cooper Petrey had three hits. The two boys scored five runs each.
NV’s number three hitter through number six-hitter combined for 12 hits. Jackson Romero also had two hits in the meat of the lineup.
NV used four pitchers.
Caleb Whitlock started the game pitching for NV and threw 1 2/3 innings, giving up four earned runs and striking out two.
Braylon Himel pitched 2 1/3 innings and allowed four hits and two earned runs.
Hebert threw 1 1/3 innings and allowed two hits and struck out three.
Petrey closed the game to earn the save. He threw one inning, surrendered one hit and had a strikeout.

Article Image Alt Text

Terry Fendley

First Guaranty Bank names Abbeville native new commercial lender

Hammond – First Guaranty Bank is pleased to welcome Terry Fendley to the lending team, representing the Lafayette and Acadiana Markets. Fendley is a native of Abbeville, LA where one of our 22 Louisiana locations are located. Fendley is bringing 33 years of lending and management experience from the financial industry, with 9 years of that being at Capital One. Fendley also received Omega Performance training for Business Banking (commercial loans and small business) and Financial Accounting for Lenders, which makes him a highly qualified lender no matter the project at hand.
Fendley is right at home serving the people of Lafayette and Acadiana markets, he states “It’s an honor to be asked to represent First Guaranty Bank in these markets.” He hopes that by exercising the right behaviors and doing the right things for his clients that it will bring awareness and growth to First Guaranty’s footprint in this area. Brandon Long, Chief Lending Officer says “we are very excited to have Terry Fendley join our team at First Guaranty Bank. Terry brings a wealth of banking experience and knowledge to our expanding Acadiana market.”
First Guaranty Bank, a Louisiana state-chartered bank, founded in 1934, offers a wide range of financial services and focuses on building client relationships and providing exceptional customer service. First Guaranty Bank currently operates twenty-seven branches throughout Louisiana and Texas. First Guaranty’s common stock trades on the NASDAQ under the symbol FGBI

Article Image Alt Text

Construction of the fire station continued Thursday afternoon.

Abbeville Fire station work on schedule

Re-opening of the Abbeville Fire Department’s Hebert Substation No. 2 is moving closer to reality. Construction of the station, which had ...

PLEASE LOG IN FOR PREMIUM CONTENT. Our website requires visitors to log in to view the best local news. Not yet a subscriber? Subscribe today to the Abbeville Meridional or Gueydan Journal or Kaplan Herald.

Article Image Alt Text

Ruby Nell Sellers Motty

September 29, 1944 - July 11, 2018

ABBEVILLE — A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 12:00 PM on Saturday, July 14, 2018 at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church honoring the life of Ruby Nell Sellers Motty, 73, who died Wednesday, July 11, 2018 at her residence. She will be laid to rest at St. Mary Magdalen Cemetery with Reverend Louis Richard officiating the services. Pallbearers will be Ethan Motty, Blake Comeaux, Grant Clark, Nick Nugier, Slayte Nugier, and Kyle Motty.
Ruby is survived by her six children, Reggie Motty and his wife Diana, Shanette M. Comeaux and her husband Guy, Taunya M. Clark and her husband Byron, Dawn M. Holmes and her husband Brandon, Dane Motty and his wife Shannon, and Ryan Motty and his wife Tisa; fifteen grandchildren, Kyle Motty, Raysha Boudreaux, Madelyn Rivers, Blake Comeaux, Kennedy Comeaux, Ross Clark, Grant Clark, Ali Holmes, Emily Holmes, Camille Holmes, Marie Claude Motty, Slayte Nugier, Nick Nugier, Madelyn Motty, and Ethan Motty; and three great grandchildren, Rylee Rivers, Maverick Nugier and Adalyn Nugier; one sister, Kathy Migaud; and one brother, Allen Sellers.
She was preceded in death by her former husband, Alexander Ballington Motty; and parents, Louis Joseph Sellers and the former Mabel Hollier.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Friday, July 13, 2018 from 4:00 PM until 9:00 PM with a rosary being prayed at 7:00 PM; Saturday, July 14, 2018 from 8:00 AM until 11:45 AM when the procession will depart for the church.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, (337) 893-4661.

Article Image Alt Text

Photo courtesy of ragincajuns.com
Jax Harrington may be the first Erath High offensive linemen to commit to a Division I university.

Erath's Harrington commits to play for Cajuns

A football player, the size of Jax Harrington, does not come around Vermilion Parish too often.
Harrington is 6-foot-5 and weighs 290 pounds, and he plays offensive tackle for Erath High School.
Earlier in the week, Harrington verbally committed to play for the UL Ragin Cajuns, via Twitter. He selected UL after receiving 13 other scholarship offers, including from Kansas, Tulsa, Southern Miss., La Tech, and Air Force.
“UL has always had a special place in my heart,” Harrington said in The Advertiser. “Just going through this whole process, going campus to campus, you just couldn’t beat UL’s campus. You couldn’t beat their facilities. It was right there in the backyard, so it was the best spot.”
Harrington becomes the second Bobcat to sign a football scholarship with the Cajuns in two years. Tailback great Elijah Mitchell signed a scholarship with the Cajuns two years ago. Harrington blocked for Mitchell, the Class 3A MVP, for two years.
In Harrington’s tweet, he thanked all of the coaches who coached him and “bring out the best in him.” He also thanked his teammates for ‘being great peers.”
According to the website 247Sports, Harrington is now the third offensive lineman to commit to the Cajuns. He joins Neville’s Logan Newell and Chalmette’s Nathan Thomas.
Harrington is also the 10th commitment to UL’’s 2019 recruiting class.
Vermilion Parish has had its share of defensive backs, linebackers and defensive linemen sign Division I scholarships. But, very few parish offensive linemen have sign D-I scholarships.
He also may be the first Erath offensive lineman to commit to a Division I college.
Around 1998, John Thompson of Vermilion Catholic signed a scholarship to play for South Carolina as a tight end.
James Sellers, also of Vermilion Catholic, signed a scholarship to play center around the year 1989.
Erik Duhon of Kaplan High was a heavily recruited offensive lineman back in the late 1990s. He could have signed with a handful of D-I schools, but he elected to walk-on at LSU. Duhon stood 6-3 and weighed around 280 pounds.
Brandon Arabie of North Vermilion signed a football scholarship in 1995 as an offensive lineman

Article Image Alt Text

Kathleen Babineaux Blanco served as Louisiana governor from 2004 to 2008. (Photo courtesy of Kathleen Babineaux Blanco).

UL Lafayette honors Blanco’s public service with creation of policy center

LAFAYETTE — Planning is underway for the establishment of the Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Blanco is a UL Lafayette alumna and the only woman to serve as Louisiana governor.
The policy center and archive will house Blanco’s gubernatorial papers. It also will contribute interdisciplinary, independent research to a host of public policy areas, including criminal justice reform, poverty and economic opportunity, governmental ethics, and education.
“Gov. Blanco championed these issues throughout her career,” said Dr. Jordan Kellman, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, which will oversee the policy center in partnership with the University’s Edith Garland Dupré Library.
“The center will draw on expertise from UL Lafayette faculty and other scholars from across the country who will gather data and offer nonpartisan analysis to confront challenges facing our state and nation.”
The center will issue policy papers that inform public discussions, Kellman added. It also will host lectures and symposiums that address pressing topics.
Dr. Joseph Savoie, the University’s president, said the center will consider issues that touch every citizen of Louisiana.
“Researchers that the Blanco center will attract, and questions it will examine, will provide policymakers and the public with insightful information necessary to improve lives and communities across the state,” Savoie said.
In an interview last month, Blanco said the center would do more than gather information for academic purposes. “I see it also as a voice of balance, a voice of honesty so that the people can trust in the information delivered from the center. I envision it as the voice of reason.” [Find more from the interview by visiting the University’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/ullafayette]
Blanco graduated from the University in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in business education.
During her 25-year political career, she was elected twice to the state House of Representatives, twice to the Public Service Commission and twice as lieutenant governor.
Blanco served as the state’s chief executive from 2004 to 2008.
As governor, she fostered international economic ties, and led trade missions to Cuba, Taiwan, China and Japan.
She also directed the single-largest increase in education funding in Louisiana history. Blanco expanded the state’s pre-kindergarten program and fully funded colleges and universities for the first time in a quarter century.
Less than two years into her term, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck Louisiana.
The storms occurred in August and September 2005. At the time, they were the largest natural disasters in U.S. history.
Blanco’s gubernatorial papers include her direction of storm recovery efforts. The 90 boxes of material she donated to UL Lafayette will be transferred to the policy center and made available to researchers once University archivists process the collection.
Prior to 2015, state law permitted former governors to retain ownership of their papers, according to the Louisiana State Archives. Most chose not to make the materials publicly available.
However, Blanco hired an archivist who guided her office’s preservation efforts.
Blanco’s gubernatorial papers will attract historians, political scientists, other researchers and the public, Kellman said.
“Gov. Blanco has an exceptional sense of history. By directing her staff members to retain their records, she ensured that future generations would have an unparalleled vantage point from which to view an extraordinary period in Louisiana’s recent past,” he said
The center’s founding director is expected to be hired by the end of the year. There are plans to open the center in 2019 in Dupré Library.
Most of the funding for the $2.7 million center will come from private gifts.
The University will celebrate the center’s launch and honor Blanco’s career with two events on Sept. 21.
Issues central to her gubernatorial tenure, including higher education funding, criminal justice reform and improving social services, will be the focus of a panel discussion from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the LITE Center, 537 Cajundome Blvd. The event is free and open to the public.
Later that evening, a gala will be held at Le Pavillon in Parc Lafayette, 1913 Kaliste Saloom Road. Proceeds from the event will benefit the policy center.
To purchase a ticket, to make a gift to the center, or to find more information on upcoming events, visit blancocenter.louisiana.edu.

Article Image Alt Text

Tsuguko “Toby” Jones

February 6, 1943 - July 11 2018

A small gathering to celebrate the life of Tsuguko “Toby” Jones, 75, formerly of Kaplan LA, who passed away July 11 will be held at The Chapel at Belle Teche Nursing Center in New Iberia from 1:00 to 3:00pm Saturday July 14, 2018.
She is survived by her 3 children, Remy (Deidre) Jones of Deland FL, Lucy J (Derek) of Hampton Roads VA, and Thomas Jones of Kaplan LA, 6 grandchildren, Staff Sergeant Angela Jones of Vandenbergh Air Force Base, Lompoc CA, Remy (R.J.) Jones II of Deland FL, USN Lt Leah Fontenot of Naval Station Yokohama Japan, USN Lt Kristi Fontenot of Little Creek Naval Station, Virginia Beach VA, Jordan Fontenot (Brad) of Washington DC, and Taylor Fontenot of Suffolk VA. One sister, Yumiko (Peter) Statkiewicz, 2 nieces and 1 nephew all of Rock Island IL.
She was preceded in death by her husband Harold Jones of Kaplan LA, and her parents, Masaru and Emiko Sato of Sasebo Japan.
The family would like to give special thanks to Maria Boudreaux and the incredible staff of Belle Teche Nursing Center for the wonderful compassionate care given to our mother.

Pages

Vermilion Today

Abbeville Meridional

318 N. Main St.
Abbeville, LA 70510
Phone: 337-893-4223
Fax: 337-898-9022

The Kaplan Herald

219 North Cushing Avenue
Kaplan, LA 70548