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The Vermilion Parish Tourist Commission is in the process of moving from the Highway 14 By-pass location to downtown Abbeville and will reside in the Abbeville Cultural and Historical Alliance located at 200 N. Magadalen Square.
The idea of moving downtown was suggested late last year by the City of Abbeville and members of the Abbeville Cultural and Historical Alliance. After several months of information gathering, the Tourist Commission decided it would be a wise move.
Alison Miller, the Executive Director of the Vermilion Parish Tourist Commission, will still be the tourism director but will take on the additional duties of running the Abbeville Cultural and Historical Alliance. Former curator, Tony Mayard, is retiring and will be handing over the job to Miller.
“I’m excited about this new venture. I’ve always been fascinated with history and our culture,” said Miller. “I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, so working in a building that houses exhibits on art, culture and history makes perfect sense.”
The Cultural Center houses rotating art exhibits through the Vermilion Arts Council, information and artifacts on Abbeville’s Giant Omelette Celebration, artifacts from the Vermilion Historical Society and information on the Acadian Genealogy Center.
The tourist information portion of the Center will now include information on the parish, as well as the entire state.
When asked about the number of tourist that come to the downtown location as opposed to the by-pass, Miller stated “That was one of the things we looked into when deciding on whether we would move. At the by-pass location, we averaged about 800 visitors per year. The Cultural Center is open on Saturdays and because of its convenient location, over 1,000 visitors stopped by in a year. Now we will be able to inform even more people on what the parish has to offer.”
The Tourist Commission move is expected to be complete by the end of this week.
Once in place, the Abbeville Cultural and Historical Alliance will open at 9 a.m., an hour earlier, Monday to Friday to better serve the public.
The phone numbers and websites for each organization will remain the same. Beginning Monday, March 19, the new hours will be Monday to Friday from 9 am-5 pm and Saturdays from 10 am to 5 pm.
Miller would like to invite the public to stop by and see the new art exhibit that is on display, “Talented Visual Arts 2” featuring the Vermilion Parish Talented Visual Arts Program. The exhibit will be on display for the next couple of months.

March 11, 1956 ~ March 13, 2018

ABBEVILLE — Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, March 17, 2018 at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville honoring the life of Lana Louies Lambert, 62, who died Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at Lafayette General Medical Center. She will be laid to rest at St. Paul Cemetery with Reverend Steve Delino officiating the services.
Lana is survived by her companion, Anthony Tabb of Abbeville; four sons, Joseph Leon Lambert, Jr. and wife Celeste of Kaplan, Wendell Ray Lambert and wife Samantha of Breaux Bridge, Jethro Tull Lambert and wife Michelle of Franklin, and Blake Stelly and wife Beth of Livonia; one daughter, Sherie Lambert of Duson; step-daughter, Latisha Tabb of Baldwin; one brother, William Leleux of Abbeville; five sisters, Barbara Bellot of Erath, Susan Stelly of Erath, Pamela Menard of Abbeville, Tammy Ketchum of Onalaska, TX, and Christine Lege of Kaplan; sixteen grandchildren; and six great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Raywood Monteaux and the former Norita Ann Andrew; one sister, Antionette Monteaux; and one brother, Kenneth Monteaux.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Friday, March 16, 2018 from 10:00 AM until 10:00 PM; Saturday, March 17, 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.

ERATH — The sixth annual St. Joseph Altar at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Erath will be held at Pope John Paul II Parish Hall located at 700 South Broadway Street.
Father Andre Metrejean, Pastor, will bless the altar at noon (after 11:00 AM mass) on Sunday, March 18, 2018. After a brief ceremony, explaining the history and custom of the St. Joseph Altar, the traditional meatless spaghetti and Italian cookies will be served until 8:00 PM that evening.
Monday, March 19, 2018 celebrates the feast day of St. Joseph, the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The altar will be on display from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Meatless spaghetti and cookies will be served to all visitors throughout the day. The spaghetti is meatless in observance of Lenten fast.
The St. Joseph Altar was a custom that began in Sicily, Italy in the 12th century. A severe drought and famine hit the region. After the people prayed for the intercession of St. Joseph, their patron saint, the drought ended. In thanksgiving, the people began to set up altars to St. Joseph in their homes with food to feed the poor.

Traditional Meatless Spaghetti

The traditional meatless spaghetti that serves about 300 guests has been made by Kirk and Denise Soileau since the beginning of the altar in 2013. Fr. Bill Melancon, former pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, began the tradition of the altar.
The recipe that he gave to the Soileaus came from St. Joseph Church in Rayne. Ms. Leona Poche (Denise’s mother) was president of the Ladies Altar Society at that time. She volunteered the couple to make the spaghetti sauce. She said, “I knew they could do it!” and they certainly can.
The recipe is not for the faint of heart. It is broken down into ounces so that it is easier to measure. It requires 168 oz. of tomato paste; 315 oz. of tomato sauce; 128 oz. of diced tomatoes. Twelve pounds of onions; 3 heads of celery; 8 bunches of parsley; 16 oz. of garlic and 5 bell peppers are all hand chopped. It is important that the vegetables are not put through a food processor. The hand chopped vegetables give the consistency to the meatless sauce. The Soileaus have doctored up the recipe by adding fresh rosemary and basil from their own garden.
Walking into the Soileau’s enclosed patio, one is greeted by a little bit of Italian heaven. Kirk Soileau had the sauce cooking on an outdoor burner since 6:30 AM. He said that he will stop cooking it around 6:30 PM. It takes 12 hours to cook one batch and there are three batches to do. When his wife gets back from work, she is in charge of cooling it and putting into gallon zip lock bags. He said that through trial and error they realized it was better to cook it on an outdoor burner than in their kitchen. The first two years, they had sauce all over their kitchen.
The Soileaus have been married for 29 years and they both love to cook. Kirk said that he grew up in Ville Platte and most men learn to cook at age fourteen. Kirk is a retired supervisor for the Vermilion Parish School Board. Denise is a principal in Lafayette Parish. They are both actively involved with Our Lady of Lourdes Church. When Kirk retired in 2015, he started making the sauce during the week so that the couple could have the weekend off.
This is a massive time consuming job that the Soileau team does with much generosity of spirit. They do it to help the church and to contribute to helping the poor.
When asked how long does it take just to open up all the cans, Kirk laughed and stated, “a while because now, I have to do it by hand. We burnt up three can openers the first couple of years.” Kirk was quick to say that a lot of people volunteer in the effort of making the spaghetti possible. Several people boil the spaghetti noodles; boil the dozens of eggs; and chops all the vegetables. This way they can focus on making a truly delicious marinara sauce.
The Saint Joseph Altar relies completely on the generosity of the parishioners and neighbors that bring in all homemade bread, cookies, and cakes. It takes countless volunteers and many hours to construct and decorate the altar and serve the food. All the volunteers are working toward a common goal of helping out those in need in our community. After the altar is dismantled, all the food is donated to the poor in our community.
For more information, call the church rectory at 337-937-6888.

December 23, 1964 ~ March 12, 2018

ABBEVILLE — A memorial mass will be held at 10:00 AM on Friday, March 16, 2018 at St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Catholic Church, 101 N. Leonard St. in Abbeville, honoring the life of David Neil Faulk, 53, who died Monday, March 12, 2018 at Vermilion Health Care Center.
David is survived by his two daughters, Ashley R. Romero and husband Jay Romero, Jr. of Maurice, and Lauren Faulk of Abbeville; one son, Darrin Faulk of Abbeville; two grandchildren, Avery Romero and Lani Romero; mother, Gaynelle B. Faulk of Abbeville; paternal grandmother, Nell Hebert; and three sisters, Kathy Faulk, Claudette Faulk, and Jan Schriefer.
He was preceded in death by his father, Paul Dallas Faulk; maternal grandparents, Claude and Celia Bernard; paternal grandfather, Whitney Faulk; brother, Randy Faulk; and infant son, Avery “A.J.” Joseph Faulk.
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.