Discover Lafayette (Jan Swift)

Dr. E. Joseph Savoie, president of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, joins Discover Lafayette to share his life story and dedication to improving our state's educational climate. Dr. Savoie has served as president of UL-Lafayette since 2008. Before serving at UL, Dr. Savoie served as Louisiana’s commissioner of higher education for 12 years. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from UL Lafayette, and thereafter earned a doctor of education degree in educational leadership and administration from Columbia University’s Teachers College in New York City. He has served in leadership positions for Louisiana governors Mike Foster, Kathleen Blanco, Bobby Jindal and John Bel Edwards. Under Dr. Savoie's leadership, the university has made incredible strides, significantly of note in 2021 when it achieved its designation as a Carnegie R1 university. This is the highest designation bestowed by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, The Carnegie Classification’s 2021 update includes nearly 3,900 institutions. Only 137 of them, or 3%, attained R1 status. Colleges and universities are reviewed after three years to maintain this prestigious ranking. This is a heartwarming interview of Dr. Savoie as he shares growing up in Sulphur, LA, meeting his late wife, Gail, while still in high school, and his memories of his own college days at USL. We thank Dr. Savoie for taking the time to visit and for his service to our community. UL-Lafayette is a bedrock of our community, having been founded in 1898, and is our best asset for culturing upcoming leaders who can stay in Lafayette and build their own success stories.

Robert Jarred and David Begneaud, board members of Scenic Lafayette, joined Discover Lafayette to discuss their mission to keep Lafayette beautiful and free of clutter and trash. They are both active and engaged volunteers. Scenic Lafayette is a citizen-based advocacy group committed to preserving and enhancing the natural and built environment of our community. through: Policy, Partnerships, Public education, and Projects. Founded in 2014, Scenic Lafayette promotes beauty as a valuable asset for those who live, visit, and conduct business in Lafayette. Its vision is to embrace calm, cleanliness, and the natural landscape of public and private spaces. Scenic Lafayette is one of 49 state and local affiliates of Scenic America, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing the visual character of our country’s roadways, countryside, and communities, and inspired by the Lady Bird Johnson and the Highway Beautification Act. One big recurring problem we discussed was the proliferation of illegal signs that are posted in public spaces. Our guests jokingly recounted that "I buy golf carts" is the newest offender in our community as you see the signs posted throughout the area. The signs are typically posted in the middle of the night so David and Robert spoke of regularly getting up at 3 a.m. to start taking down the illegal signs. You can help by calling 311 to report litter and illegal signage. Let's clean up our neighborhoods! If you see a broken utility/phone post be sure to report it by calling 311 or 337.291.8800. AT&T will soon be digging up, fixing or replacing broken telephone cable boxes throughout Lafayette Parish. Lafayette City Councilwoman Liz Webb Hebert took it upon herself to address this issue....it has blown up across the state as other communities say they have the same problem. David Begneaud says, "The issue is being fixed and is coming around! This is important, as our visitors enter Lafayette they see this blight. Visitors who are considering moving here pay attention to these things." The issue of blighted green utility provider boxes found in public spaces throughout the community was also discussed and our guests reported the communication provider was responsive to requests for help in addressing the problem. David Begneaud with his wife, Alice, volunteering at the Southern Garden Festival bringing awareness and educating the public on blight, litter and illegal signage in our city. You can now report litter and illegal signs by calling 311 or go to www.311.Lafayette.services A few of the initiatives of Scenic Lafayette: The Azalea Trail Revitalization Project; Signage Policy Improvement and Enforcement; Landscape and Tree Policy Improvement and Enforcement; Art and Architecture Guide; Streetscape Improvement; Utility Infrastructure Visual Enhancement; Billboard Control; and Litter Abatement. Lafayette experiences a high level of trash being strewn on its streets and our interstate interchanges. Trash flies out of the back of citizens' pickup trucks as well as municipally-contracted trash pickup trucks. David Begneaud said he has heard Matt Stuller quote statistics several times, saying,"South Louisiana has the highest per capita of open-bed pickup trucks in the nation." David said further, "When you go down the interstate, whenever you are the contracted person to cut the grass, you have to pick up the litter first, and you see litter bags full of trash every 25 to 50 yards filled with trash for miles as they prepare to cut the grass on interstate medians." Municipalities can actively control the amount of blight that is tolerated. As David Begneaud said in a shout-out to Youngsville LA after discussing his awareness of how U. S communities control blight: "Go to Youngsville, LA. Youngsville has zero tolerance for non-compliant signs. Zero. Drive through the City of Youngsville and you're not going to see vinyl banners strapped betw...

Greg Gautreaux joins Discover Lafayette to discuss his career as a public servant in Lafayette's Parks and Recreation Department and acclaimed NFL referee. Greg dedicated his career in service to Lafayette’s Parks and Recreation department managing its athletic programs, therapeutic recreation, pools, and parks. He got his start as a referee as a student at Teurlings High School, class of 1972, which was the genesis of his lifelong love of officiating; he recently retired with 50 years of service in officiating and still serves as assignments secretary for the Lafayette Area Football Officials Association. For sixteen years, he officiated high school football; Nelson Stokley and Gerald Broussard helped him break into college officiating. Greg served for 32 years as a college official and was an active NFL football official serving as a field judge. In 1998, he met an NFL scout who attended a Tulane-Rutgers game that Greg was officiating. Not long after, he got a letter inviting him to work NFL Europe games which he enjoyed for four years before being called up to serve for the NFL. Greg's career highlight was officiating at Super Bowl XLIII in the matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. This is the pinnacle of achievement as referees earn the honor of working the Super Bowl by being the highest-rated official (in Greg's situation, as a field judge) throughout the season. As Greg says, "You are expected to start out perfect and improve from there!" To qualify as an official at the conclusion of that season, Greg handled 2400 plays and only had two misses! Think about that!! Greg Gautreaux officiating at Pittsburgh's Super Bowl win over the Arizona Cardinals in 2009 You have to stay in good health to have the privilege to work with the NFL. There can be many challenges when serving as an official. "I'd run four or five miles per day to stay in good shape. You usually run and walk up to six miles per game. The NFL makes sure the referees pass fitness tests before they are cleared for their year contract of service. 119 NFL referees work per season, rotating the crew as needed. Greg Gautreaux at the taping of Discover Lafayette in the RADER studio displaying his ring from Super Bowl XLIII. Greg's home study holds a plethora of football memorabilia he has collected over his lifetime, as well as the memories he cherishes. The official NFL Super Bowl XLIII jersey worn by Greg Gautreaux as a field judge. State Sen. Gerald Boudreaux and Greg Gautreaux as young referees. The two worked together for Lafayette's Parks and Recreation Department for many years. Greg is still an active proponent of a strong parks and recreation department in Lafayette. Our Parks and Recreation Department, which encompasses 28 city parks, is woefully underfunded, still being covered by a 1.92-mill recreation tax that was enacted in 1961 when Lafayette only had four parks. The millage brings in about $2 million per year. Compare this to Youngsville's per capita collections for parks which is nearly 10 times Lafayette's; Broussard collects more than 7 times on a per capita basis. One of Greg's favorite memories is being a key part of the genesis of disc golf in Lafayette. Five parks offer the program, which allows people to spend time having fun with very little investment in equipment. According to the Professional Disc Golf Association, "Disc golf is played much like golf except, instead of a ball and clubs, players use a flying disc. The sport was formalized in the 1970s and shares with golf the object of completing each hole in the fewest strokes (or, in the case of disc golf, fewest throws)." We thank Greg Gautreaux for his lifelong dedication to making our park's system the best it could be. And in closing, Greg noted there is a shortage of high school referees. Anyone interested in learning more should check out https://www.becomeareferee.com/louisiana/

Our guest is Sandi Chalmers, co-owner of the Acadiana Cane Cutters Baseball team. Sandi and her husband, Richard, acquired a franchise from the Texas Collegiate League in September 2010 to start the Acadiana Cane Cutters. Play officially began in the 2011 season. The Acadiana Cane Cutters are the primary tenant of Fabacher Field where Lafayette, Broussard, and Youngsville meet. Before the first pitch was thrown, the Chalmers made many capital improvements to the entire facility, including adding over one thousand stadium seats and nearly two hundred premium seating locations, giving Fabacher Field its current 1,400-seat capacity.  Richard and Sandi Chalmers work tirelessly to ensure a top-notch experience for players and fans alike. The Chalmers find host homes for the players as they provide the opportunity for the young men to showcase their talents and perhaps make it to the major leagues. Home games at Fabacher Field always include entertainment for the fans, and you can enjoy delicious food and adult beverages at an affordable price. The TCL is a collegiate, summer baseball league designed to give the top professional prospects a chance to play in a minor-league baseball atmosphere while maintaining their amateur status. College players who aspire to make it to the big leagues can showcase their skills in front of fans and baseball scouts. The 2022 season was historic for the Acadiana Cane Cutters as they won their first Texas Collegiate League Championship. The Texas Collegiate League opens play on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, as the Cane Cutters travel down I-10 to face off against the rival Baton Rouge Rougarou. The home opener for Acadiana Cane Cutters is Thursday, June 1st against the Victoria Generals, at Fabacher Field in Youngsville, with Cutter fans hoping for the same outcome that won the championship for the Cutters in 2022. Sandi and Richard have a love of baseball that runs deep, and they would center their family vacations with their twin sons around watching Major League Baseball across the U. S. Their love for the game still runs true, and Sandi shared that their deepest desire is to be a part of the fabric of our community and to offer safe and affordable family fun. For Richard, it is about player development and helping the players' game; Sandi reminisced about one of their players being drafted by the Astros. The Chalmers also offer internships with the Acadiana Cane Cutters which have afforded their young assistants opportunities and skills to move on to rewarding careers in baseball management and other industries. For more information, visit https://www.canecuttersbaseball.com/ If you are interested in sponsoring a game or supporting the Acadiana Cane Cutters, call Richard Nunnally at (337)295-5677.

This replay of our interview with Wade Berzas is the most popular interview we have aired over the past six years. Wade was the sole survivor of the horrific plane crash that occurred 48 seconds after departing the Lafayette airport on December 28, 2019, en route to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. He joined Discover Lafayette to discuss how the incident changed his life forever. He now lives his life “48 seconds at a time.” Wade Berzas is a man of faith and lives life to the fullest.

Roy Devillier, founder of Roy’s Fresh Lemonade, and his daughter, Cynthia Devillier Thompson, join Discover Lafayette to discuss the family-run business Roy started almost 30 years ago. They truly represent the American way of working hard and having a good time in the process as they make a living. Roy is a retired pharmacist who began his adventure with lemonade in 1994. He had attended a flea market as a funnel cake vendor and wasn’t able to find lemonade that tasted good. Roy decided that he could make a refreshing lemonade that would wow festival-goers. He began experimenting with water, sugar, and lemons. Some concoctions were too sweet, some too sour, and some were just plain bad. But after about a week of testing his recipe, Roy hit it right and Roy’s Fresh Lemonade was born. Initially, Roy would make 30 gallons at a time in a large vat, with Cynthia helping by stirring the lemonade mix with a wooden paddle. Eventually, Roy realized that the manufacturing had to be made more efficient and came up with a stirrer that was 4 feet long and automated the process. Roys’ first client was a Lafayette Walmart and his lemonade is now distributed and served at large events across the U. S. Once you buy a cup, refills are half-price....always. You can bring a cup from 10 years ago and the offer is honored. Roy's Fresh Lemonade is also offered at local restaurants such as Deano's, Old Tyme Grocery, Prejean's Restaurant, Y-Not Stop convenience stores, and L.T. Seafood Restaurant. The National High School Rodeo held annually in Wyoming counts on Roy's Fresh Lemonade to wow participants and supporters. Roy says the Rodeo is the "Super Bowl for High School rodeo participants and all 50 states are represented." (Photo by Ed Glazar of the Gillette WY News Record) The lemonade began to be distributed on a large scale after Roy served it at a Native American tribal event in Oklahoma. The event promoter wanted to offer Roy's lemonade in their ten casinos, and "That's how we got into the distribution business." Once the lemonade got a foothold in popularity, the distributer asked for the right to market to others and things really took off. Roy's Fresh Lemonade is now manufactured by a beverage co-packer in Dallas, which allows the Devillier family to sell to a broader market across the U. S. "What do Coke and Pepsi do? They sell concentrated syrup to vendors. So, fifteen years ago, I turned Roy's Fresh Lemonade into a concentrated syrup to keep up with the demand. It has a shelf life of approximately one year and I can go anywhere I want, and can sell one box or 50 boxes." Roy Devillier Cynthia and her husband, Allen, work full-time in support of Roy’s Fresh Lemonade,  They manage inventory, distribution, and marketing of Roy’s. Cynthia is the only child of Roy and Mary Devillier.  Cynthia graduated from UL with her master’s in communication and worked in government, nonprofit, and healthcare sectors. Cynthia Devillier, her husband, Allen, and their two daughters make Roy's Fresh Lemonade a true family business success working alongside Cynthia's dad, Roy. Roys Fresh Lemonade can be contacted at (337) 849-4460 for orders or for more information visit their Facebook page.

Erica Melancon Fox, Executive Director of the Maison Freetown African American History Museum, joins us today to share her incredible journey. A musician, a historian, and a lover of a good story, Erica shares stories that are golden. Her parents always supported her journey in music, dance, and all things that allowed her to share her spirit. Our community is so much better off because of their investment in her talent! Highly accomplished in the world of performing arts, Erica is a professional songwriter who has sung with Rice University's Orchestra, served for eight weeks as lead actress and singer in “Ain’t Misbehavin” at the National World War 2 Museum, and toured with various national musical companies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juaGTXOpIig Erica Melancon moved to LA right after high school and attended Occidental College in Los Angeles, acquiring a record deal right off the bat. She had a college sponsorship, but no money to speak of but wanted to follow her dream of being a recording artist. She had no manager, and knew no one, but was guided by God to follow her calling. She learned very early on how to be a business person as she also learned what it was like to be 'canned!' She was discovered when she sang the National Anthem at the Staple Center in Los Angeles. Her journey led her to be a part of the Motown productions of the Funk Brothers, a talent trove that wrote all the classic songs we love. Erica is classically trained but loves all types of music, including Country! Erica has opened for shows at Acadiana Center for the Arts and Festival International de Louisiane. She received a 2020 Grammy Consideration for Best R&B song: "I Still Love You" on her This is 2020 album. "I feel like I've lived many lifetimes. My life is a song. That is the basis of everything I do. I have always loved sound and writing and literature since I was a four-year-old kid. I was always outside singing and didn't realize I was writing songs when I was singing to the trees and the birds and making shows and performing with my imaginary friends. My love for literature for song came from my father who appreciated all types of music. She had the opportunity to interview Calvin Moret, the last surviving Louisiana member of World War II's famed Tuskegee Airmen, an accomplished soldier and woodworker who played down what his talents were. "It makes you wonder what are my talents...what more can I do?" Erica learned that Lafayette still had a surviving member of the WWII Battalion, all-black Female soldier of the 6888th  (SIX TRIPLE EIGHT) Central Postal Directory Battalion, Major Fannie Melancon, and pursued interviewing her to pursue the knowledge of people of that time period. We ran into each other recently at a tribute of the WWII all-black Female soldiers of the 6888th  (SIX TRIPLE EIGHT) Central Postal Directory Battalion at the Freetown Maison museum. Erica makes incredible contributions to our community each and every day and it is a pleasure to share her story!

Notre Dame Football Coach Lewis Cook, Jr. and Gaylon White, the author of the soon-to-be-released book, Coach of a Lifetime: The Story of Lewis Cook Jr., Legendary High School Football Coach, join Discover Lafayette to discuss Louie's incredible and historical journey in coaching over the past 50 years. Coach Louie Cook is renowned for being among the best high school football coaches ever and for his winning teams. He has been inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the Louisiana High School Sports Hall of Fame. In 2019, the New Orleans Saints honored him as their High School Coach of the Year. One of Coach Cook's favorite movies is "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." There is a great quote, " When the legend becomes fact, print the legend! Gaylon says, "We printed the legend!" Getting to the top of Coach Cook's field has involved staying true to the three F’s: Faith, Family, and Football, in that order. Young men learn that character, discipline, and doing the right thing will lead to a bright future. Coach Cook playing quarterback for Rayne High School. Coach Cook's mission is to build young men into adults who respect others, follow the rules, and develop discipline in all areas of life. It's not about winning....it's about the process, about showing up and doing the right thing. All the other things, such as winning, take care of themselves if you get the fundamentals down. And Coach Cook motivates his young players to do the right thing by treating them as people who are capable of doing the right thing! We wish all young men had mentors such as Coach Louie Cook who took the time to look them in the eye when they are talking....and treat them as they were the only person in the room...in the world! Gaylon White's newest book on Lewis Cook, Jr. may be pre-ordered at Barnes & Noble or Amazon. One of his proteges was the outstanding Orlando Thomas who played under Coach Cook at Crowley High School and then USL, before going on to play for the Minnesota Vikings. Coach Cook and Thomas enjoyed a bond that was unbreakable and full of love. Orlando Thomas was one of many stars that Cook coached, including Brandon Stokley and Jake Delhomme. Pictured here with a sculpture given to him by NFL Defensive Back Orlando Thomas commemorating him as "Coach of a Lifetime" is Coach Lewis Cook, Jr. Sadly, Orlando Thomas who wore the number 42 on his jersey passed away at 42 years of age. His father passed away at the age of 42. Gaylon Thomas pointed out the poignancy of his life: Orlando was the 42nd draft pick in the NFL draft in 1995. Coach Cook was in effect, his father. "The one word you hear the least from our staff is 'winning.' We preach more to the kids that if you do the right thing, if you work hard, everything takes care of itself. We don't harp on the outcome of what they are doing. A winning record doesn't make you a winner. A losing record doesn't make you a loser. It's how you go about doing the things you do every day. We preach to the kids, just do things right." Coach Louie Cook, pictured center, being honored as Saints High School Football Coach of the Year in 2019. There are 160 young men at Notre Dame High School this year....and in this summer's first practice on June 5th at 5:30 a.m., 73 boys showed up. By 6 am, when everyone was present for practice, there were 121 boys. They average between 110 and 115 for seven days now! The coach doesn't cut players; anyone who wants to play is on the team. We first met Gaylon White a couple of years ago on this podcast when he released a book entitled, The Best Little Baseball Town in the World” which highlighted Crowley LA and the Evangeline Baseball League. His writing style is impeccable and he pulls the reader in with his attention to detail and ability to become a part of the story being shared. He is also able to solicit well-known sportsmen and coaches who vouch for the stories he tells. Interestingly,

Heidi McDonald of Foodies of Lafayette joins Discover Lafayette to discuss her passion for sharing positive news about all things related to good food. Foodies of Lafayette is a group that supports local restaurants while cultivating a positive experience for its members.  It is promoted via its Facebook page where local restaurants can post daily and weekly specials, members post queries about eating establishments, learn where to source ingredients, and share recipes or photos of their kitchen creations.  Foodies of Lafayette’s FB page is not a food critique page and does not allow negativity or bad reviews—it’s a positive place. There’s no advertising, politics, drama or anything else complicating it. Four moderators help in keeping the FB page clear of harsh words as the group endeavors to promote wonderful food offered everywhere from gas stations to high-end restaurants. With social media being a magnet for rude and mean words, this Foodies page is a site for sore eyes and a delightful experience in how to uplift others as the good news is shared. Jason Stoner, unavailable for taping this episode, joined the group in January 2020 and was appointed moderator shortly after.  His contributions to the page have been significant.  Jason & Stephen’s Sunday Dinners are over the top and they currently host different Foodies of Lafayette members once a month, never repeating a Sunday Dinner.  Much planning and passion from the atmosphere, playlist, table, and food prove their love for entertaining guests through a fabulous dining experience.  Jason assists with the day-to-day operations of the page and planning Foodies of Lafayette events. Fuji Sushi has been awarded the 2023 Culinary Excellence Award by Foodies of Lafayette. The first restaurant to receive this award, the restaurant's owners will be recognized later this year. Heidi's experience at Fuji Sushi, 4416 Johnston Street, Suite A, in Lafayette, sparked her vision to create Foodies of Lafayette.  She identified the pure passion that Fuji brings to the table and found it troubling that few people knew about them. Their food and service were second to none, but like many restaurants, they had little or no budget for advertising.  Heidi started Foodies of Lafayette in December 2019, thus creating an accessible place for establishments to get the word out about their restaurants and Foodies to get the information they're looking for without advertising, politics, drama or anything else complicating it. Her vision worked in a big way. Fuji Sushi and others now have a forum to post daily and weekly specials, new menu items, and photos. Heidi thought a few of her friends would join and is mind-blown by all the responses the page now generates.  The page currently has approximately 49,000 members and is growing at a rate of 500 per week.  Foodies of Lafayette's success has led Heidi and Jason Stoner to take the group's reach one step further. Plans are in the works to create a line of merchandise such as ball caps, t-shirts, backpacks, and koozies emblazoned with the logo so that fellow "foodies can quickly identify their peeps in a crowd," as Heidi puts it. Heidi McDonald pictured with her husband and her sweet young family. She works by day for JP Morgan Chase and in her 'spare' time, runs Foodies of Lafayette. We thank Heidi for her generous spirit and love for all things food! Visit Foodies of Lafayette to find out more about all of the local delicious food you can find locally. In closing, we want to share one of the best-kept secrets in town: Ochsner Lafayette General's cafeteria offers some of the best food in town at unbelievable prices. One of Heidi's favorite dishes is the crawfish etouffee! Who would have thought?

The founders of C’est La Joie Academy, Charlotte Cobb and Mamie Perkins, join Discover Lafayette to share their drive to offer three-year-olds a safe place to have fun while they develop a lifelong quest for learning and exploration. C’est La Joie Academy offers a play-based, nurturing, French Immersion environment where three-year-olds are surrounded by the arts and the natural world. Charlotte and Mamie share the power of joyful investigation as a way to guide a child's inner scholar, even before they learn letters and numbers. Mamie studied French and Spanish while at UL-Lafayette and partnered with CODIFIL, having the opportunity to travel to France to earn a Masters degree as part of its Escadrille program, a two-year graduate program. She then taught for a total of six years at Evangeline Elementary and Prairie Elementary in their French Immersion programs. This experience taught her the value of "trust-based relational intervention" which still guides her teaching style. She dreamed of 'what could be' in a smaller classroom for younger students, something holistic and organic for little ones. Mamie Perkins, left, pictured with Charlotte Cobb, her business partner in C'est La Joie Learning Academy. Mamie is the lead teacher and the academy's business details are handled by Charlotte. 90% of the conversations and lessons are in French. Research suggests that a high-quality learning experience serves as a catalyst for children’s long-term success. Exposing children to a second language at 3 years old is the optimal time to learn without having to study….it is organic. And as Mamie says, "Play resets the brain." Learning takes place optimally when conducted in a fun, relaxed setting. Located on a 1.5-acre lot near Rue de Belier at Mamie's home in Lafayette, the academy will open during the school year from 9 am to 12 pm. Tuition is $600 per month. For more information, visit https://www.cestlajoieacademy.com/

Brenda Andrus joined Discover Lafayette to discuss the importance of protecting our local senior citizens and providing outlets for socialization and enriching activities.  Employed by Home Healthcare 2000, Brenda is engaged in providing resources and enriching activities to elders and also keeps up with what is offered locally by civic and government agencies. She partners with Lafayette Consolidated Government's two senior centers, The Greenhouse Art Studio and The Rosehouse, both of which recently reopened in April 2023. Brenda is an inspirational woman who has never met a challenge she could not overcome. Her passion is in helping our elderly neighbors and she works to ensure that no one is forgotten or neglected. During COVID, she cooked weekly meals for seniors who may not otherwise have gotten a nutritious hot meal. She has also organized an annual bus trip since 2009 to various locales throughout the South which affords the opportunity for local seniors to hear good music and visit historic sites such as the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN where Dr. Martin Luther King was shot. She keeps the trip affordable and interesting, always inviting a Lafayette-based performing artist to join the bus tour so that they can play at an out-of-town venue. We love a recent quote of Brenda's that is the epitome of her life story: “Giving to our elders with food, games and healthy educational materials is a wonderful way to show appreciation and respect for their contributions to our communities and society. For many seniors, social isolation and loneliness can be major challenges, and spending time with them can be incredibly meaningful and beneficial." She has lived out this mission of giving both as a dedicated volunteer in the community and as an employee with Home Health Care 2000. For more information on how you can volunteer or get involved, please call Brenda Andrus at (337)258-1666. For more information on Lafayette's Senior Centers, visit https://www.lafayettela.gov/ParksRecreation/Centers-Activities/senior-centers.

Traci Pécot, owner of Paws and Paw Paws, and Paws MidCity, joins Discover Lafayette to share her love for all things related to dogs. Paws and Paw Paws is a dog daycare that opened in 2017 with a mission to combine Traci’s passion for dogs with her love for members of our senior community. Traci brings her work history in healthcare with assisted living, home care, Alzheimer’s and dementia patients to her role in providing top-notch boarding and grooming facilities here in Lafayette. There are two locations of Paws and Paw Paws: 930 Robley Drive and 111 South College Road, in Lafayette. They offer boarding, daycare and grooming services. Paws and Paw Paws is a place where staff remain for the long haul and are treated with respect. Traci still works each day alongside her staff, taking a shift just as everyone else does. She is also responsible for all social media and web inquiries...and not only for Paws and Paw Paws, but also those of her husband, Ryan's, businesses, Adopted Dog Brewing and Tchoup's MidCity Smoke House. Paws and Paw Paws’ cuddle buddy program offers seniors and the retired community the opportunity to spend time with dogs during the week in a rich, stimulating environment. Seniors sign up to lend their time and love to the precious dogs who need love as much as they do in their day-to-day lives. Traci and her husband, Ryan, own two rescues, Tchoupitoulas and Paws, who remind them daily why they love dogs! And their dogs have played a role in inspiring other businesses, including Adopted Dog Brewing and Tchoup’s MidCity Smoke House. Traci works to ensure that each dog cared for by Paws and Paw Paws is given the proper stimulation and exposure to other dogs that fits its temperament. Love and care for each pet is of uppermost importance and as you listen to Traci, you will hear this concern in her voice that each dog receive the treatment in the setting it is most comfortable in. Traci loves dogs and dogs love her back! For more information please visit https://www.pawsandpawpaws.com/.

Our guest is Brenda DesOrmeaux, President and founder of the DesOrmeaux Foundation. The Desormeaux Foundation is dedicated to defending human life at all stages of development, born and unborn. This includes the infant in the womb, the elderly, the handicapped, the homeless, and all who are threatened by our present culture of death.  To fulfill its mission, the DesOrmeaux Foundation offers family planning counseling and services at its Women’s Center of Lafayette as well as housing for pregnant women at St. Marguerite D’Youville Maternity Home. All services are offered at no charge to participants. The foundation raises money through various avenues, including its thrift stores Baby & Me Boutique and Mimi’s Attic on Jefferson Street in Lafayette. It also offers teachings through its "Theology of the Body" presentations. The Women's Center of Lafayette on Jefferson Street offers alternative pregnancy counseling including family planning counseling, free pregnancy testing, free ultrasounds, and more. For information, call 337-289-9366. Brenda is sincere and passionate about her mission to protect life at all stages. Her Catholic faith drives her to help others who most need it. She recounts how Mother Teresa was a catalyst for starting Lafayette's Catholic-based Women's Pregnancy Clinic after she wrote all the Bishops across the U. S. telling them to send girls to her Missionaries of Charity order in New York if they couldn't institute their own women's pregnancy centers. Brenda implored our local diocese to open such a women's center and she was told, "If you're willing to fund it and run it, go ahead and do it." She traveled to Chicago to study how it was done there and on November 1, 1999, under the umbrella of the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette, she opened the Women's Center of Lafayette. Since then, Brenda has taken over fundraising and operations under the DesOrmeaux Foundation and has instituted a total of five ministries serving our community. When asked how she manages the fundraising for such a Herculean effort, she says, "God always provides." She has never worried about fundraising and it has always appeared when needed. The St. Marguerite D'Youville home welcomes homeless pregnant women. Each resident is provided with a place for reflection and re-direction, with the average stay being six months. This refuge is offered at no cost. Currently with an increased demand for services, St. Marguerite D'Youville houses nine residents, up from six. Funds are raised through a variety of donations and also by the operations of Mimi's Attic Resale Store and Baby & Me Boutique located on Jefferson at Lamar Streets, near the Women's Center. We thank Brenda DesOrmeaux for her community and faith-filled service through the DesOrmeaux Foundation. Please visit https://desormeauxfoundation.org/ for more information.

Chubby Carrier joined Discover Lafayette to share his life journey in the Zydeco music world and how he learned the business from his father, Roy Carrier. In a world where artists can be taken advantage of, Chubby is an astute businessman who realized early on that he had to control his own destiny. Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band's release in 2010 of Zydeco Junkie won the Grammy in the category of Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album in 2011. Ironically, that was the last year the Grammy's recognized zydeco and cajun music; after that year, the award has gone to Best Regional Roots Album which can be awarded to any traditional American music. His band offers a unique blend of traditional Zydeco elements with contemporary influences including elements of rock, blues, and funk. Chubby's ability to fuse different styles and his captivating stage presence have allowed him to reach a broader audience beyond Zydeco aficionados. Chubby is a third-generation Zydeco artist following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Warren Carrier, his father, Roy Carrier, and his cousins, Bebe and Calvin Carrier. His music is so cool, you can’t help but tap your feet and rock when you hear his band’s compelling beat. Jan Swift met Chubby when they both served as Ambassadors for a Smoke-Free Louisiana. Many musicians have died over the years from exposure to secondhand smoke, including their mutual friend, David Egan. Luckily, Chubby has not gotten cancer and he is looking forward to many more years of sharing his unique musical talents. When you meet Chubby, you know you are in the presence of greatness. Thank you for listening to this true hero and local talent who is proud to call Acadiana his home. We ended our interview with his song, Another Pretty Face from his album, Back to My Roots. Please buy his music, and please buy the music of our other local artists. Their livelihoods depend upon us who all enjoy their contributions to our culture.

Reverend John Cannon, Senior Pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church,  is our guest on Discover Lafayette. This is a special rebroadcast of an interview we did in March 2020, right before COVID shut down life as we knew it. We'll always treasure this inspirational message! A native of Shreveport, John Cannon graduated from the University of Arkansas and LSU Law School. While working as an Assistant District Attorney in East Baton Rouge, he began to discern a call to pastoral ministry that he had first experienced as a youth in the Episcopal Church. Following that call, John attended the Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. Before joining Asbury as Senior Pastor, John served as the District Superintendent for the 74 churches of the Acadiana District of The United Methodist Church. Cannon’s first appointment as a pastor was at Church of Our Savior in Junction City, Kansas. Located near U. S. Army Fort Riley, the congregation was multi-ethnic with about fifty members, most of whom were retired military. It was a simple time for Cannon and his wife, Erin, and the church provided a home for them to live in as he commuted twice a week for two hours to attend his theological classes in Kansas City. Asbury UMC is one of the largest churches in Louisiana, with about 1000 active members attending services in any month. Cannon explained that even in large churches, it is important to maintain a “small church feel” so that people feel connected to one another. Large congregations have to work to create that feel; small groups such as Sunday School classes or adult and children ministries are important so that each individual member can connect with others and share their God-given gifts. Cannon’s training in his first career as an appellate attorney has many similarities with his work as a pastor. He believes the best lawyers are storytellers and the best stories are the ones that make you think and bring you to a new place of understanding. Today as a pastor, Cannon is a collector of stories….odd, humorous, and interesting stories of real people he finds in the news and saves in a manilla folder for use in his sermons. The congregation enjoys his humorous openings to sermons where the true, offbeat human story is woven into a relevant passage of scripture to more impactfully deliver the message. Cannon believes that is why Jesus used parables as he taught His messages so that the crowds could understand the teaching and relate them to everyday life. You could say that John Cannon makes his closing argument for God each and every week! Asbury draws a diverse crowd of all ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, and is a place of acceptance for the LGBTQ community. Cannon is proud that the congregation models what it means to be a family, even when all members don’t agree on every societal issue, and stated, “At the end of the day, we love each other, support each other, and have each other’s back.” Ultimately, it’s all about love, the love that Jesus exemplified in His two great commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:35-40. We thank Reverend John Cannon for his contributions to our faith community. For more information on Asbury United Methodist Church, its worship services and ministries, please visit https://www.asburylafayette.org/

Kade Turner, Executive Director of CASA, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss his passion for serving children. He first became involved with CASA in 2017 through the encouragement of former Lafayette City-Parish Councilman Kenneth Boudreaux who was serving as Executive Director of CASA at that time. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. CASA advocates are trained community volunteers appointed by a judge to serve as a child’s voice in court. They represent the best interests of abused or neglected children during juvenile court and child protection proceedings. CASA is a nonprofit organization with both private and public funding sources. CASA works on behalf of foster children within the 15th Judicial District Court which encompasses Lafayette, Acadia, and Vermilion Parishes. The Louisiana Children’s Code lays out the responsibilities of CASA and its trained volunteers who provide independent, third-party, objective assessments of what they see. Funding is provided by the Louisiana Supreme Court CASA Assistance Program, Victims of Crime Act Funding, the Louisiana Children’s Trust Fund, private donations and grants. Approximately 340 children are being assisted by CASA and overseen by the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services. Most of the children in need of care are located right here in Lafayette Parish. Volunteers go through thirty hours of training, serve without compensation, and are appointed by the court exercising juvenile jurisdiction.  The judge will verify the volunteer’s qualifications, training, and ability to serve as a CASA volunteer, including the ability to represent and advocate for the best interest of the children assigned to him.  You must be at least 21 years of age to serve and be able to commit two years of service. No volunteer is assigned until a comprehensive criminal background check has been conducted.  A CASA Volunteer spends time with their assigned child or sibling group getting to know the child while also gathering information from the child’s family, teachers, doctors, caregivers, and others involved in the child’s life. Approximately every six months, a report is prepared for the judge (with help from an assigned Supervisor) sharing recommendations for the child’s care. Learn more about volunteering with CASA of SoLA at casaofsola.org. The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (“DFCS”) which oversees foster care services has lots of turnover and is short-staffed. CASA provides much-needed resources to help families meet the requirements to get their lives back on track. A study showed that only about 23% of families had the necessary resources to meet the requirements placed upon them by the court to be able to emerge from the system. CASA helps parents sign up for classes, arrange childcare so they can attend court-ordered classes, or provide food for the family for those times that the parent must be away. Kade Turner has worked with CASA of South Louisiana since 2017. He assumed the role of Executive Director in May of 2022. A young man (with his 29th birthday coming up soon!) who has found his calling, Kade serves as an inspiration in our community. Kade has also dedicated his life to helping children with health disorders. For 21 years he has been involved with the Louisiana Lions Camp in Vernon Parish for youth in Louisiana with respiratory disorders, special needs, juvenile diabetes, and childhood cancer. Lions Camp is free for qualifying boys and girls of Louisiana. All campers are sponsored by their local Lions Clubs.

Brett Bayard of the Kiwanis Club of Lafayette joins Discover Lafayette to discuss the Rewards for Reading Program. Since 2021, the Kiwanis Club of Lafayette has partnered with the Lafayette Parish Public School System and 24 of our parish Elementary Schools to offer the Reading for Rewards Program. This year, the program has expanded to include 36 schools, including middle schools. The goal is to inspire and excite our youngest students to read so that they can learn to love reading, thus do better in school and build a lifelong habit of reading. Since Rewards for Reading’s inception, the level of participation and excitement for reading has skyrocketed. Students earn points by participating in the school system’s Accelerated Reader (AR) program to become eligible for prizes. They earn one raffle ticket every nine weeks as they meet their AR goal, which goal is individualized and based upon each student’s reading level. Students can earn further raffle tickets by exceeding their goals. Studies show that children who cannot read on grade level by 3rd grade are four times more likely to drop out of school. Third grade is a crucial time in a child’s education as students transition from learning to read, to reading to learn. The Rewards for Reading program's success is phenomenal. In its first year, 2021, The accelerated reader participation increased 58% in the second half, which school officials attributed to the program. That year, about $13k in prizes were distributed to children across the system. This 2023-24 school year, the array of prizes to entice the students to read is amazing! Each school will be raffling off five bikes, scooters, Kindles and earbuds. Other fun prizes are also to be awarded. Sponsors are needed to help ensure the program's success. Visit https://www.lafayettekiwanis.org/donations/ to donate or email rewardsforreading@lafayettekiwanis.org for more information on sponsoring a school. Thanks to the Kiwanis Club of Lafayette for your dedication to our community and helping our youngest citizens get off to a great start in life!

Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court, Louis J. Perret, has served our community for 23 years, having been elected to serve on November 20, 1999. The clerk of court oversees the central repository of official records ranging from real estate sales and mortgage deeds, civil lawsuits, successions, adoptions, felony criminal charges, and much more.  They help you get certified copies of birth and death certificates. The clerk's office has over 16 million records going back to 1823. The clerk's office has over 8,000 vintage photos of Lafayette Parish's history, with approximately 3000 on display. We are all encouraged to share our photos with him so that he can continue to build a library of the story of Lafayette. The Elections Department oversees every facet of all elections that take place in Lafayette Parish. With the elections coming up on October 14, 2023, it seems very timely to hear from Louis Perret on all that’s involved in the process. One quick fact: just in Lafayette Parish on October 14, 2023, taxpayers will spend $182,000 to cover the costs of election day. Expenses cover 906 commissioners who will be working, the clerk of court and registrar employees, along with janitors, the people who deliver the voting machines, close the building, etc. Louis admonishes all of us: There is no valid excuse for not voting!! Prior to his election as Clerk of Court, Perret served as District Director of the 7th Congressional District for Congressmen Jimmy Hayes and Chris John. (1986-1999) Perret served as co-chair of the Lafayette Bush/Cheney campaign in 2000. He served as an alternate delegate for George W. Bush at the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. Louis Perret was selected in 1997 by the American Council of Young Political Leaders as a delegate to the People’s Republic of China. He is a Lifetime Member of the ACYPL Alumni Council. Perret serves on the Board of Directors of Louisiana Capital (Small Business Lender) and has served since 2011 as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Regional Health System of Acadiana, which includes Women’s & Children’s Hospital and the Regional Medical Center Hospital. He formerly served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Women’s & Children’s Hospital from 2003 to 2008. He has been a board member since 1994. He is a partner in Golfballs.com and he is a founding member of NOBL (Network of Business Leaders). In 2002, Perret was elected to serve a three-year term on the Our Lady of Fatima Church Pastoral Council. He served on the Finance Council, as Vice President and President during his tenure on the Pastoral Council. Perret has served since 2003 as a Cub Leader, Adult Leader, Assistant Scoutmaster, and Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 446. In 2012, Perret was appointed to the Executive Board of the Evangeline Area Boy Scouts of America. Louis Perret is a NRA Certified Pistol, Rifle, and Shotgun Shooting Instructor, as well as a Range Safety Officer. A partial list of organizations he has raised money on behalf of include The United Way, Games of Acadiana, Children’s Shelter, American Cancer Society, Duck’s Unlimited and The Acadiana Outreach Center. Perret graduated from Our Lady of Fatima High School and The University of Southwestern Louisiana, (B.S.). He became a Certified Clerk of Court in 2000 by the Louisiana Clerks of Court Institute. In 2002, Louis Perret was the first Clerk of Court in the State of Louisiana to receive the Chancellor’s Certificate in Public Administration from the University of Missouri offered through IACREOT. He was awarded the Advanced Chancellor’s Certificate in 2008. He is married to the former Cheryl Broussard and is the father of two children, Ann E. and Max. For more information on the clerk's office, visit https://www.lpclerk.com/

Dr. Nichole Stanford, English professor at UL – Lafayette and Director of the Writing Center on campus, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss her work on teaching kids to learn how to dissent productively. By learning respectful negotiation, children can learn how to participate in society in a way that is a win-win for all. What a great way to grow our next crop of leaders! Dr. Nichole Stanford earned a Ph.D. in composition from the City University of New York, with a focus on pedagogy and power theory and published a book in 2015 called Good God but You Smart: Language Prejudice and Upwardly Mobile Cajuns. She is currently writing a book called Teaching Kids Productive Dissent geared toward parents and educators. When Jan Swift met Nichole, she was fascinated with her theory of teaching children skills on respectful negotiation so that they can learn to participate in society productively. It is a pleasure to share her beautiful voice as she speaks of the skills needed to create a better and kinder future for us all.

Wilson Savoy, Grammy-winning accordionist, keyboard player, fiddler and singer joins Discover Lafayette to share his life's musical journey. Wilson hails from the renowned musical family, the Savoy Family Cajun Band.  He plays with The Pine Leaf Boys and performs solo as Sweet Willy Allen.  Wilson co-owns the Hideaway on Lee in downtown Lafayette and Hideaway Hall, the former Schilling Shack. Wilson Savoy is laid-back and humble. A resident of North Lafayette, he spends time utilizing his carpentry skills when he is not performing his beloved Cajun music. As we spoke, he reflected on how serendipity led to his successful career as a Cajun musician, harkening back to a fateful day in 2004 when UL-Lafayette police told him he could not perform his music on the sidewalk on campus. Within days, he was being offered opportunities to play at Artmosphere and the Blue Moon Saloon, which led to great career success and critical acclaim. In Roots of Fire, a soon-to-be-released film, Wilson, his brother Joel, Kelli Jones, Kristi Guillory and Jourdan Thibodeaux honor the rich history and cultural legacy of Cajun music. The Cajun contemporary scene in Louisiana has found mainstream success with Grammy nominations and wins, but shuttering venues and an aging fan base leave some questioning the music’s future. The film is a celebration of the unique sounds created when the forces of fresh talent and deep history come together to fight for cultural survival. Featuring performances from the Pine Leaf Boys, Feufollet, Jourdan Thibodeaux et Les Rôdailleurs, Bonsoir Catin, T'Monde, Anna Laura Edmiston and Roddie Romero, Roots of Fire shows how playing 'kick-ass' music and preserving Cajun tradition for future generations can be a shared goal.

Bailey Bobbitt, Vice-President and founding member of American Petrolog joins Discover Lafayette to share his story of entrepreneurship. American Petrolog’s focus of providing safe transportation and world-class customer service has made the company an industry-recognized leading provider of logistics services to the chemical industry. The interesting thing about Bailey Bobbitt was that he was also a professional boxer known as 'Bang Bang' from 2009 to 2013 with 9 wins, 2 losses, and 5 knockouts, who trained under the tutelage of Chad Broussard. Bailey might still be boxing but for a serious retina injury that threatened to render him blind. His focus, drive, and competitiveness in sports and business make his story a compelling one that exemplifies the spirit of Lafayette that we all love. Bailey is a Lafayette native who attended Cathedral Carmel and St. Leo Seton Schools before his family moved to Houston during the oil bust of the late 80’s. He played football at UL Lafayette and Sam Houston State as a punter and kicker. He and his wife, Holly, are active members of of Our Lady of Fatima Church. Bailey serves on Our Lady of Fatima School's Finance and Master Plan Committees. Holly is a special education teacher at the school. They are the proud parents of two young boys, Major and Maverick.

Our guest is Aileen Bennett, author of the newly published book, "A Little Book About Fire." A native of Essex, England, Aileen has lived in Lafayette for twenty years and recently became a U.S. citizen. Aileen is an illustrator, author, designer, painter, and writer, She has written the BE YOU column highlighting local outstanding citizens for over 10 years, where she features people and the things that make them special. Most importantly, Aileen is a creative force in Acadiana and beyond. Her heart, her humor, and her love of her fellow human beings are inspirational. "A Little Book About Fire" is a must-read book and a wonderful choice as a gift for loved ones. Thank you, Aileen, for all you do to entertain and enlighten our community! Visit https://www.aileenbennett.com/ for more information.

Our guest is Caroline Trahan, founder and owner/operator of VibraFit. Caroline is a Corrective Exercise Specialist specializing in senior and women’s fitness. She brings a melded version of fitness, movement, and vibration platforms to our community. Caroline has been a personal trainer with the National Academy of Sports Medicine and is a certified yoga instructor. Her dedication to vibrational fitness is a testament to its benefits for improving lymphatic drainage, reducing inflammation, improving muscle tone and bone density, and strength training. VibraFit is located at 301 W. University Avenue in Lafayette. Caroline's team of professionals offer diverse and unique services which include the Energy Enhancement System, EB-Pro Ion Footbath/Detox, Oxy-Hydrogen Therapy, Molecular Enhancer/Tesla Cellular Energy, Infrared Body Wrap/Detox, and Endermology Facial/Firming Session. You'll have to check it out for yourself to experience the Zen environment and peaceful setting it offers its clientele. Caroline brings a lifelong commitment to fitness and in helping others reach their fullest potential in health and wellness. To find out more about VibraFit, visit https://www.vibrafitlafayette.com/.

R. Hamilton Davis, known to everyone as “Hammy,” came from a large family with deep roots in Lafayette. In this special replay of our interview in 2018, Hammy shared his love of his family and community.  With a heart for working effectively in programs that directly improve the lives of those less fortunate than himself, Hammy spoke highly in this interview about Catholic Charities of Acadiana and United Way of Acadiana and their positive impact on our community. For the original show notes, please visit our website here.

"My Number 1 priority was not leasing my building. I didn't want my power in business to be held in someone else's hands. This was also the recommendation of the Louisiana Small Business Administration to me as I looked at securing my future: 'You need to own the building!' So I tell others: Own the building. When you do that, you stay to work a little bit longer. You pick up the slack where needed. For me....this investment is my whole retirement on the line." Our guest is Denise Champagne-McClure, owner of The Coffeeweed Cottage in Lafayette, which opened on May 18, 2023. While Denise never earned a college degree, her business acumen can be put up against any individual who has earned an MBA. She works hard, she's humble, she's an incredible business entrepreneur, and has an eye for creating a successful business model. Coffeeweed Cottage's name is derived from the term for chicory, the name of a coffee substitute from the roasted root of the chicory plant. Denise loves the taste of chicory coffee and wanted something unique and different associated with her shop. And trust us....the coffee is delicious! Denise's store is at 410 Poydras Street, at the corner of W. Simcoe and Poydras Street in North Lafayette, not far from University Avenue near the Four Corners. She purchased the 3000 square foot property in 2022, the site of the oldest mechanic shop in Lafayette owned by a multi-general family business whose roots trace back to Cecilia where Denise grew up. Before finalizing her site selection, she drove around all areas of Lafayette Parish and knew that this oldest neighborhood in Lafayette, in the original  Vordenbauman Addition, in the area close to the Fightingville and LaPlace neighborhoods, was the exact right spot. With the help of the Louisiana Small Business Development Center and Lafayette Economic Development Authority, Denise was given guidance on how to open the business of her dreams. She brought a rich and varied business background that made her a good candidate for opening up this unique endeavor: she was trained in horticulture and had worked for Coburn's for 15 years in bath/kitchen fixture sales, having moved up the ranks from the bottom up. Note: Denise shared her gratitude to Coburn's for the experience they afforded her, as well as to the people at LEDA, especially Mark Mouton and Lauren Titus who helped her navigate the process of developing a three-year business plan and qualifying for a loan. Denise was inspired to reach her full potential when attending an Unleashed event by Dirk Beveridge. She realized that she could do anything she put her mind to when she heard his message about creating transformation through creating a culture of innovation and growth.  For more information on Dirk please visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/dirkbeveridge/ As with any entrepreneur, Denise has had to put all of her savings on the line, as well as mortgage her house to make this endeavor a reality. When you think about shopping options in Lafayette, as well as any other town, this is why it is important to think about shopping locally. Local vendors not only offer unique products, they give back to their community through donations to charities and in-kind contributions, and also sacrifice personally to ensure that employees who live in Lafayette are paid. Coffeeweed Cottage offers a unique array of services. One of the most unique services is their Grow Bar, where you can schedule a 'plant bar' for events as diverse as a bachelorette party, a team building event for work, a family get together, or birthday celebration. A $50 deposit for your event will go toward the cost of the event, where you and your friends can pick a favorite plant, a cute pot, and learn how to care for it. If your plant doesn't make it, you have a 30-day guarantee to swap it out for another plant or have Denise and her team nurse it back it health!

Noah Brandon, CEO of Unitech Training Academy, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss his mission to make education accessible to all. Noah graduated from the College of Business at UL-Lafayette and then went on to earn his MBA from Brown University and the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid Spain. Unitech Training Academy is a growing education institution that was originally founded by Noah's mother, Deanna Head, in 1997, initially offering a Certified Nursing Assistant program. Today, the institution has six campuses across the state, online classes, and two early learning centers in Lafayette and Alexandria. Noah is an advocate for all post-secondary educational offerings and is active with One Acadiana's Workforce Development Strategy to ensure that local employers can find skilled workers that fit market needs. Unitech staff partner with their students at Unitech to ensure that the soft skills needed to stay employed are learned while training for their new career. "There is a universal truth among all hiring managers: they want to hire people who make their lives easier, not harder. So when you're interviewing for a job, your goal is not to tell them how great you are. Your job is to convince them that you are the answer to their problems and you'll make their job easier." The majority of students at Unitech are studying allied health field courses. Classes offered include Dental Assisting, EKG/Phlebotomy technician, Medical Assistant, Pharmacy Technician, medical billing and coding, as well as Massage Therapy, IT Technician, IT Support Specialist, and Early Childhood Ancillary Certificate. At any given time there are approximately 1100 students enrolled in what Noah calls a "rolling program of enrollment" that allows students to start classes each Monday. Noah's mom, Deanna, created this model to allow students to start a new career and obtain an education as soon as possible. Unitech held its first graduation for the Unitech Leadership and Development Institute in October 2023. Noah is active in the community and serves as President of the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Acadiana. He was honored in 2022 as an Acadiana Top 20 under 40 Award Recipient. Noah Brandon spoke of his understanding of the importance of intentionality when dealing with others. Most of us carry around fears and insecurities, and it can show in our actions if people don't know us. Especially as you move up the career ladder. Our insecurities can shape how people size us up. We may be shy but it can come off as aloofness. People may think, "You're the guy in charge....you're not supposed to be insecure!' He believes that if you look at people with love instead of fear, it really changes the whole dynamic. "If I look at others and give them the benefit of the doubt.....it becomes so much easier to interact with people." For more information on Unitech Training Academy, please visit https://unitechta.edu/ or https://www.facebook.com/UnitechTrainingAcademy/

Heather Courville, a local entrepreneur who offers beautiful handcrafted children’s clothing and accessories through her business, Banannie Bands, joins Discover Lafayette to share her journey in breaking into the business world as a seamstress who produces heirloom items. Heather had a booth at the Junior league’s Christmas show, Tinsel & Treasures, in September, 2023. The quality of her work, the beauty of her designs, and her endearing spirit made her the perfect guest as we enter the holiday season and people are looking for that perfect gift for a young family member. Where did her career journey begin? A very young, divorced mom who was short on funds but rich in time, Heather took sewing classes and began sewing gifts such as burp cloths, bibs and other baby items for her daughter and friends. Her hobby turned into a career upon the encouragement of Heathe, her then boyfriend and now husband, who announced one day that he had booked her at a craft show in Breaux Bridge. He said, "I have had bought you a 10' x 10' tent and 6 ' table, here's the date of your craft show, and you will have to fill the table with baby items." She filled the table with headbands and burp cloths, all priced at $5.00, and the items sold out fast. Heather made a grand total of $75 at her first show. But this young mother of a ten-month old, who was three months behind on her mortgage and about to lose her house, felt her entrepreneurial spirit lit on fire. She began booking craft shows anywhere possible every weekend....Baptist church parking lots, anywhere there was a show. Low on funds, she would buy scraps of material from Lola Pink Fabrics in Lafayette and would sew items that customers requested such as pacifier clips. She caught up on her mortgage and realized she could take care of herself and daughter. The business has grown exponentially since its early days. And her business paid for her wedding to Heathe! And as they say, the rest is history! Surviving the COVID shutdown was a challenge and Heather pivoted to making masks which sold at retail in Drug Emporium stores. She believes that God provided for her and her business and they both have survived. While she is not yet back to her all time high of eight employees, Heather does enjoy the help of other women who love sewing and she calls Banannie Bands a family business. Heather mentioned a former babysitter of hers.....Ms. Debbie, who makes up to 400 bibs at a time for Banannie Bands. Her mother-in-law also sews for her. Gerber baby diapers serve as the base for Banannie Band burp cloths. Heather has never wanted a 'brick and mortar' store because it would be too difficult to produce enough inventory to keep the store stocked. Heather always wants to focus on custom orders that meet the needs of her customers. She brought a custom order she would be delivering after our show finished to show me a sample of her work. Banannie Bands doesn't sell on Amazon, but you can find creations locally at Trove & Company at 126 E. Bridge Street in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Annie Bannanie is the nickname of her oldest daughter, who is now 12 years, and the inspiration for her business name. Capri is her youngest daughter, four years old, and Heather still makes all of her clothes. Banannie Bands makes clothes for newborn children to 5 years of age. Heather is especially proud of her reversible rompers which give the choice of a Halloween outfit and then flipping it inside out to show a Christmas theme. Heather details how in the early days, she worked as a receptionist at a walk-in clinic while she was building her business as a side gig. She then worked for a beloved woman who was a dementia patient but never sewed while on the job....she always waited until her off hours to produce Banannie Bands' crafted outfits and items. But when her patient had to move on to Assisted Living, Heather finally took the jump to supporting herself ...

Discover Lafayette welcomes Missy Bienvenue Andrade, CEO of the Community Foundation of Acadiana. Community Foundation of Acadiana (CFA), founded in 2000, is a tax-exempt foundation whose core purpose is building legacies and improving communities by connecting generous people to the causes they care about. The organization focuses on the parishes of Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Mary, St. Martin and Vermilion. The parish affiliates each have permanent endowed funds for their geographic region. Missy gave great credit to Raymond Hebert, its first CEO who served until 2022, for his leadership in building an organization that is healthy and ready to move on to its next chapter of philanthropic focus in Acadiana. As of 2022, CFA has received total gifts of $364,588,403.00 over its years of existence. Donations of all sizes are welcomed and "Donor Assisted Funds" or "Corporated Advised Funds" can be established at any level. Scholarships are also housed at the CFA. Missy explained that many times, a donor may want to make an end of the year contribution and wait until disbursing the funds until a later time; special requests and assistance from staff can help the donor make their wish come true in the timing that fits their desires. Donors can also make contributions and request that their funds be invested in the market, either under the direction of their own investment advisor or with the assistance of CFA professionals. Missy Andrade (left) pictured with Erica Ray, Carolyn Doerle, Missy Manuel and Carlee Alm-Labar at a recent groundbreaking of the Paul A. Doerle Farmer's Market Pavillion at Moncus Park. Missy believes an important mission of the CFA is to define how the organization may best assist Acadiana nonprofits. She looked back on 2023's SOLA Giving Day which raised the most money ever for local nonprofits, totalling $1,829,127.00. CFA runs the back office of SOLA Giving Day which has been wildly successful over the past six years. This year Venmo and Paypal were added as payment options and this appeared to eliminated barriers to giving; CFA saw people were giving contributions in the range of $5 and $10, as well as large sums, and the event experienced the highest number of people ever giving on a single day. CFA is entering a new phase of defining its mission. It recently hired Ekstrom, Alley Clontz & Associates ("EAC") to assist in a comprehensive strategic plan for the organization as it determines how it can best serve Acadiana as it builds a bridge to an even more successful outreach. EAC has consulted on behalf of over 200 community foundations across the U. S. and abroad, and is a leader in its field. Rather than just studying other community foundations across the country, Missy emphasized that CFA want to ensure that our particular community needs are identified and addressed. This is Missy’s second appearance on Discover Lafayette, as we interviewed her a few years back when she was President and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Acadiana. Missy Bienvenue Andrade previously served as CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Acadiana. You may here our earlier interview with her here The 91st annual Lafayette Civic Cup Awards will be held on Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at the City Club at River Ranch. This years award will be bestowed upon Rodney Savoy. The CFA is handling the event. The Savoy family donated the land and beautiful building on which CFA is housed. For more information on the Community Foundation of Acadiana, please visit https://www.cfacadiana.org/

Our guests today are Jason Stoner and Stephen Rogers, who are well-known locally for their exceptional foodie and presentation skills! Jason and Stephen devise the menu, theme, and special tablescape (a blend of table and landscaping) in the weeks preceding each event; Jason captures the process with meticulous photography to heighten the sense of appreciation for each meal prepared with love. Jason is the chef and creator of the menu; Stephen is the master of planning the ambiance and theme of the evening and takes great care to select the perfect silverware, napkins, plates, drinkware, etc. The couple have hosted a Sunday Dinner at 6 p.m. once each month for the past few years that began in 2017 when they hosted a special birthday supper for their family. It was such a hit their children insisted on making the dinner a weekly celebration. Over time, the event morphed into a monthly affair that is closely followed by foodies. The waiting list of people hoping to attend speaks for itself. Thousands of people watch on social media to see what unique creation and decor these two will come up with! Only a few guests are selected each month so nabbing an invitation is a fete, to say the least! Jason and Stephen have never repeated a menu or theme. As an example, November 2023's Sunday Dinner centered on a TexMex menu, featuring beef enchiladas on homemade tortillas and sour cream sauce, with assorted sides, all freshly prepared. The evening’s theme was Dia de los Muerxos, which originated in Mexico and is a days-long celebration in honor of family members who have passed away. The playlist was Tejano Classics on Spotify. The event was hosted in honor of Emmalyn Grace Quebedeaux, a young child who was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma cancer. The lucky Sunday Dinner guests won the privilege of attending via a raffle in support of Moving Mountains for Emmy, a go fund me fundraiser in support of the little one's medical treatments. For more information on how to contribute to Emmalyn Grace Quebedeaux's medical expenses, please visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/moving-mountains-for-emmy Stephen spoke lovingly of the inspiration he received from his grandmother who was his 'spirit animal,' a flamboyant and creative woman who loved design. Her inspiration was still present whenJason and Stephen's house sat under two feet of water after the 2016 flood; they realized that in rebuilding and reconstructing their home life, they wanted to use all of the beautiful things they had been keeping in the cabinets. They now utilize beautiful family china and glassware that they inherited from loved ones such as Stephen's grandmother. And as Jason says, "We eat with our eyes first, so we always try to plate the meal over the top." Jason always tries to source food items locally whenever possible, and he mentioned his love of City Girl's Farm's edible flowers, microgreens, and herbs, as well as Coastal Plains Meat Company for their outstanding selections. Jason Stoner and Stephen Rogers have a choreographed effort they employ when hosting their monthly Sunday Dinner. Stephen meets the guests, gets them a cocktail and whisks them out of the kitchen so that Jason can complete the last minute cooking. They discuss ahead of time the flow they need for the evening to be a success. The team love what they do and hope to bring the Sunday Dinner to a new level with an anticipated YouTube show that documents the monthly event from start to finish. Jason Stoner is well-known locally as being one of the principals behind Foodies of Lafayette alongside Heidi McDonald. Foodies of Lafayette spotlights area restaurants and culinary experiences in a positive way and will not allow negative feedback to destroy their aim of promoting local treasures. The site currently has over 60,400 active followers on Facebook and is growing exponentially each month.

Corey McCoy, CEO of KOK Wings & Things, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss his unexpected journey into success as a restaurant entrepreneur. Growing up in a military family, he lived all over the country before moving to Lafayette to attend UL and become closer with his father. Corey served in the National Guard for six years while in school, with a top secret clearance as he worked as an Intelligence Imagery Analyst. KOK Wings & Things was founded in 2016, when Corey, Avery Bell, Tre’Jan Vinson and Jared Johnson were Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc. fraternity brothers at UL - Lafayette and living together on a shoestring while attending college. The foursome would cook chicken wings and sauces for friends, beginning with the traditional wing recipe Corey's dad provided them. They enjoyed hosting social events at their home to raise money for their fraternity. In order to pay for the cost of the food and supplies, they started charging for their wings. Word spread about the delicious wings and the "Kitchen on Klinton" thus began out of their home kitchen on Clinton Street. And things went smoothly until one day, the local police came knocking on their door, informing them that it wasn't legal to operate a commercial kitchen out of their home. They realized it was time to 'change up' their operations. KOK began with an initial investment of $250 chipped in by the the partners. As Corey says, "It was everything we had!" In the beginning, the young men would put fryers in the back of a U-Haul as they went looking for customers. In time, they were ready for a food truck. Avery's dad offered to help build a food truck on a flatbed trailer, which they found on Craig's List. KOK would park for a few months at a time around Lafayette as they built up a dependable clientele for their wings and sauces. As KOK became more professional, their goals for growth did also. Once they saw that they had a viable business model, they worked to scale the operations From the beginning, the four young men divided up the tasks of running the business. Corey became the CEO (even when they were still cooking in the back yard) and was in charge of organizing the overall operations of KOK. Avery was in charge of ordering food and supplies, Jared was the Chief Financial Officer, and Tre'Jan was in charge of marketing. It gave them an organized method to focus on growth. Corey credits Heidi Melancon of the Small Business Development Center for helping KOK get their first loan, get free consultations, and get their business bearing. He also credits LEDA and the UL Business school for its help for which he will always be grateful. KOK didn't charge sales taxes for the first two years. This turned around when Adam Curry, a CPA with Darnall, Sikes & Frederick, ordered a meal and realized that no sales tax was collected. He helped the partners get their tax and financial records in order and get their business model organized for a sustainable business model. The Lafayette location is in the former Gallagher's Restaurant, which property is still owned by Nidal Baldeisi. He traded free rent for a few months in exchange for the KOK partners' working to renovate the building as they built their profits. They rented fork lifts from Lowes, got family and friends to help, and they were off in pursuit of a successful brick and mortar business. Corey taught 8th grade history at Acadian Middle when he graduated from UL in 2016 as they built up their business. He worked until KOK turned profitable in order to ensure that he could make a paycheck. The first two years, none of the men took any paycheck from the business. With a solid track record of growth, KOK Wings now has locations in Lafayette, New Iberia and Baton Rouge. Corey and his partners have grown their company from the grassroots level into a multi-million-dollar company with over 50 employees. KOK Wings & Things sells much more than wings and sauces.

Adam Daigle, Business Editor of the Acadiana Advocate, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss the biggest business news of 2023. The #1 story of the year is the incredible strides made in 2023 insofar as job creation is concerned. Iberia Parish is on fire with the recent announcement of First Solar's $1.1 Billion investment to take place on thirty acres at the Acadiana Regional Airport. First Solar will produce high-performance photovoltaic (PV) solar modules. The project is expected to be complete in the first half of 2026 and up to 700 high-paying jobs are anticipated to be created. This enterprise is unique in Louisiana in that it is tied to a new solar training program at UL-Lafayette where students will be educated on designing solar panels. First Solar was founded in 1999 and is among the top 10 solar panel manufacturers in the world. Along with this major announcement, other large regional employers include Amazon at 1300 employees and Stuller at 1500 employees, who have both exceeded projections for local employees. The #2 business story of the year is the large number of local restaurants which closed in early 2023, including the iconic Cafe Vermilionville, Lotus Garden, Grub Burger, The Point Seafood and Steakhouse, BJ's Pizza, and Luna Bar & Grill. By July 2023, the number of closings had settled down. The #3 story of the year is the shake-up at the news desk at KATC, seeing the departure of longtime and popular news anchors Marcelle Fontenot and Jim Hummel who will be joining KADN in January 2024. The move is one being conducted nationally by KATC's owner, E. W. Scripps Co., as a cost-cutting measure. While there will no longer be live news read by anchors at the 5 pm, 6 pm or 10 pm news slots, the company will invest in more reporters to cover breaking news stories throughout the day. Marcelle Fontenot and Jim Hummel recently announced they had resigned from KATC News and will be joining the news desk at KADN in Lafayette. The #4 story is the recently announced departure of Anita Begnaud, CEO of the Lafayette Downtown Development Authority, whose last day will be on December 20, 2023. Anita will be moving on to work with her former boss at One Acadiana, Jason El Koubi, as the Vice President of Marketing and Communications at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. Under Anita's leadership, the DDA was instrumental in seeing the completion of a myriad of commercial projects in Downtown Lafayette which had languished for years. She brought energy and excitement to her role as CEO and will be sorely missed. Anita Begnaud, CEO of the Lafayette Downtown Development Authority since 2018, recently announce that she will be leaving to work with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership as VP of Marketing and Communications. The #5 business story is the explosive growth occuring in the corridor at Kaliste Saloom Road and Ambassador Caffery Parkway, including the opening this year of Topgolf on December 15 and Dave & Busters which opened November 27. Adam says attracting these type of entertainment venues "brings Lafayette up a class, akin to going from a Double-A to a Triple-A baseball club" as it causes investors to take a closer look at our market and reexamine what is possible in the commercial realm. Other important commercial additions include the recently opened Chimes Restaurant and the development of the Camellia Blvd corridor near Verot School Road which is filling in with medical offices and a new Rouse's, expected to open in early winter. This whole corridor is now serving as the commercial core of Lafayette Parish, is easily accessible by other towns in the parish, and is the economic powerhouse of the Lafayette community generating tax dollars that would have seemed impossible just a few short years ago. As Adam says, "Costco is a sales tax machine!" Discover Lafayette is proud to name attorney Chris Granger as the recipient of our third annual Business Catalyst of the...

Our guests are Ari Dolegowski and Jenée Naquin, husband and wife, as well as adventurers who have lived in Lafayette since 2020. The couple moved from New York City with their son, Noam, to be closer to Jenee’s family members who live in Eunice. Jenee is a brand stylist and digital content creator with vast experience in bringing luxury brands to life through digital marketing. A native of Eunice, she graduated from Loyola in New Orleans and then moved to NYC to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She worked in corporate design, has experienced living in a handbag factory in China in order to learn the ins and outs of the accessory manufacturing process, and was part of the team that built Jessica Simpson’s iconic handbag line. After 13 years in fashion design, Jenee founded her branding company, JSQ Creative Agency, in 2017. Ari is a Bio-Performance Therapist, offering transformative massage sessions with a tailored approach rooted in Physical Therapy and Eastern medicine through AriD Therapy & Training. He had the good fortune to apprentice as an assistant to a doctor of physical therapy and a Chinese medical practitioner. He attended traditional Chinese medical schools and studied massage therapy for a month in Thailand. A fellow who has walked an incredibly interesting life journey, Ari played pro soccer in Chile, Tel Aviv and the U. S. Along the way, he studied at Yeshiva University in Jerusalem. Ari taught high school Physical Education in New York City before settling on his career as a bio-performance/massage therapist. Ari and Jenée met and married in NYC after their early career international travels. While they both had strong ties to New York, they had decided it was time to move in order to pursue a different lifestyle than offered by the Big Apple. Pre-Covid, they had traveled to several places looking for a Utopian site. The onset of COVID and its shutdown of city life brought things to a head, as Jenée recalled, "If you were on the 15th floor of a highrise, like us, riding an elevator was a challenge. New York became intense and nervous. Much of the population moved out and a troubled, homeless population remained....all of a sudden taking a walk to the Park to get outdoors wasn't fun." Ari and Jenée took out a whiteboard and listed all the things they wanted in a good place to live. Louisiana fit the bill, and particularly Lafayette, as it was close to Jenée's family. Ari was a bit nervous about the big move to Lafayette, in part because of mosquitoes, but also because of our very small Jewish community. "Thank goodness for the Temple Shalom in Lafayette!" About a year after the family settled in Lafayette, Ari turned to Jenée and shared how happy he was to be be here. Interestingly, Jenée also came to realize how important Judaism had become in her life. In NYC, there was vibrant Jewish community and they were surrounded by many other Jews, even sending their son to a Jewish school. She had fallen in love with the Jewish faith and lovely traditions. "It took me coming back to Cajun Country to realize that I was a Jew!" While she had initially resisted converting her faith from Catholic to Jewish while living in New York, Jenée began studying Judaism and has now converted and is an active member of Temple Shalom. Jenée Naquin and Ari Dolegowski in their backyard Sukkah (hut) talking about their Jewish faith during the weeklong festival of Sukkot in October 2023. Photo by Brad Bowie of The Acadiana Advocate. Jenée and Ari's young son, Noam, whose nickname is "Kiki," is also showing signs of being a creative entrepreneur. Learning how to juice satsumas and other fruits by his grandfather, Noam has made the local news several times due to the popularity of his fresh squeezed juice, marketed under the brand name Kiki's Juice Box. "Noam is a born entertainer and this endeavor has been one of my favorite branding projects," Jenée says. With the help of his mother,

Blair Broussard, owner of Bee Positively Social, a social media consulting firm, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss effective digital marketing tools for small business owners in today's market. Blair has also been an active real estate agent with District South by Real Broker in Lafayette since 2017. A chance to play middle blocker for the UL - Lafayette women's volleyball team lured Blair to Lafayette. Transferring from Centenary College after her freshman year, Blair recounted her first trip to Lafayette down I-49 with her dad and spotting a dead alligator on the side of the road. As a native of Mesquite TX you would think she would have been scared by this, but Blair thought it was cool and such a different experience from her years growing up in Dallas. The deal was sealed upon arriving at UL, where she was given a tour of the swamp on campus and of course, another chance to see an alligator! Blair Claypoole Broussard was lured to Lafayette LA to play middle blocker for the Ragin Cajuns' volleyball team. Noting the vastly different cultural experiences (including the alligators!), Blair says that "Volleyball is how I came to know and love Cajun Country!" While Blair graduated in Education from UL - Lafayette and also earned an MBA from the university, she was self taught on how to market her real estate services to garner effective social media presence. She is a big fan of organic activity on social media, i.e., posting experiences as they happen rather than relying solely on scheduled posts, so that the social media algorithms don't pick up your activity and identify it as a 'robot.' With that said, she does recommend that you schedule posts to occur daily and consider using paid ads for important messaging. Blair is driven to help others tell their stories, especially small business owners who don’t know how or where to start in marketing their business. While we may wish we could just print a paper flyer and post it at the local coffee house or restaurant, the days of that being an effective marketing strategy are long over. Blair Broussard is the proprietor of Bee Positive Social, assisting small business owners in systemizing and automating the appropriate social media tools to effectively grow their business. Today, people "post" their flyers and other advertising materials on social media. The particular platform you should select for your business is dependent upon your target business clients as every social media platform has its own demographic. Facebook and Instagram are by far the most popular but again, your preferred platform will be tied to the referral network you want to tap into. Millennials and younger people will gravitate more to Tik Tok and YouTube, especially YouTube Shorts. "YouTube shorts (short 20 second video clips) are a great way to expand your reach and grow your business. You can use that link on so many other platforms." For clients that are new to social media promotion, Blair will have them just pick one to start and "get their user friendly ability up." But most businesses today have at least one medium where they post and she will help them expand their repertoire to two. Blair advises that your social media page should answer the most FAQ's such as, "Where are you located? How can I purchase or sign up? How can I contact you?" "Small business word of mouth referral networking is changing dramatically. Millennials are not going to leave a Google review. They will share the Instagram profile of your business. Not just your phone number. That's how small business word of mouth is happening." Blair recommends utilizing Linktree or Milkshake apps that optimize your social media traffic by streamlining all of your info, products and links (website, blogs, social media platforms, etc.) to be accessible in one click in your bio. Blair is a proponent of blogging as it establishes your credibility as an expert in your field. Plus,

Dreux Barra, proprietor of C’est Tout Dried Trinity Mix, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss the idea behind his product and its evolution. A humble man who is a joy to be around, Dreux and his wife, Monique, have built a home-grown company which has unlimited potential to corner the market in the U. S. and abroad. Dreux is frugal and conservative, and pays cash for the products needed to produce C'est Tout's wares. "There is no need to go into debt to grow a company organically," Dreux says. Pictured: Dreux and Monique Barra of C'est Tout Dried Trinity Mix. Born and raised in Lafayette near the Saint Streets area, Dreux describes himself as "Just a camp cook....not a chef." Dreux is employed by day with Signal Security of Lafayette, a local security guard service. Monique works full-time with C'est Tout. In the summer of 2016, Dreux found himself with way too many bell peppers left over at the end of an abundant season in his home garden. Not wanting to waste produce, he used his experience in drying beef jerky to dehydrate the bell peppers along with some onions he had on hand. He then had a revelation: there was no dehydrated Cajun Trinity product (onions, celery and bell peppers) on the market anywhere. Experimentation and determination led to such a delicious blend of dried onion, celery, green onion and yellow onions that his friends encouraged Dreux to jar/preserve the mix to share with others. To ensure quality as he finalized the product, he asked his mom for her opinion one day as they ate lunch at a local assisted-living facility where she resided. His mom was an LSU grad who majored in Home Economics and knew a thing or two about proper balance in foods and how they should look. Dreux's mom's advice ended up playing an instrumental role in the success of C'est Tout as she advised him to add red bell peppers to the mix saying, "Every food item must have color, texture, taste and you're missing a little color. You need a little red." Dreux says "And don't you know, the red bell pepper adds both color and sweetness, along with improved flavor." This also provided a different take on the offerings from the fresh "Cajun Trinity" offered by local outlets. This beloved Cajun Trinity of onions, red and green Bell Peppers, and celery (and garlic in one version of C'est Tout) springs to life when combined with hot liquid. Four tablespoons of the trinity mix result in one cup of vegetables when one cup of boiling water is added. With a stable shelf life of two years with no preservatives, C'est Tout is definitely a must for every serious chef's pantry. Dreux originally offered C'est Tout at the Moncus Park Farmer's Market in 2017, and still finds this a wonderful place to market their product. At the taping of this show in mid-December, Dreux and Monique would be working their 47th Saturday at Moncus Park in 2023! They also participate on the first Saturday of each month at the Delcambre Farmer's Market which Dreux says, "are real cooks who are showing up to buy the $3.00 per pound shrimp off the boat." Dreux and Monique Barra, husband and wife, are hard-working partners, with Monique working full-time in packaging and shipping the product. It is a manual process to fill the bags while utilizing machinery that precisely measures the product. Orders ship within twelve hours of being placed. Dreux never envisioned selling to local stores. He thought online and farmer's market venues would be a dream come true. But after a visit at Heleaux's Grocery on Verot School Road with then manager, Paul, who fell in love with C'est Tout and ordered many cases of the product, Dreux realized there was a local demand. Today, the product may be bought locally at Champagne's Grocery, Rouse's, Fresh Pickens, Nunu's, Louisiana Hot Stuff, and other vendors. 99 % of online sales of C'est Tout products go outside of Louisiana. Products are particularly popular with residents of Texas, Florida,

Mike Tarantino, President & CEO of the Iberia Industrial Development Foundation, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss the recent business developments which will change the trajectory of growth for Iberia Parish and all of Acadiana. Passionate and well-spoken about business development and the need for all community leaders in the business and government sectors to speak with one voice if they want to attract top level investment in the region, Mike loves Iberia Parish and spoke eloquently and enthusiastically about all of the newest developments while never stopping once to look at written notes. Mike Tarantino is a New Orleans native that moved to New Iberia with his family in the mid-70's. He graduated from Catholic High School of New Iberia and never left. Mike previously served as interim director of the Acadiana Regional Airport and received the Richard E. Baudoin, Jr. Friend of Business Award in 2018 from the Junior Achievement of Acadiana Business Hall of Fame. The Iberia Industrial Development Foundation is a 501(c)(6) business investor organization. Its board is comprised of both public and private sector individuals. "Half of the board comes from the public sector such as our Parish President, all of the mayors in the towns of Iberia Parish, the Director of the Port of Iberia, the Director of the Acadiana Regional Airport, and the Superintendent of Iberia Parish Schools, while the other half consists of private business leaders. It's a place where private businesses and government come together to discuss plans for the future. We're the folks that cast the line to get people interested in coming to our area. It has a different mission from a traditional chamber in that it is focused on professional economic development." Mike believes that economic development is a team sport. "It is very competitive and takes a well-honed team as well as the private and public sector working hand in hand. You have to be singing from the same sheet of music, working from the same game plan. When you market your community, many times the investors have already researched your community. Having a united front to put your best foot forward is the first step in attracting big business." Iberia Parish is poised for growth, especially given its assets such as the Port of Iberia which offers a 2000 acre industrial and manufacturing site, its location along Highway 90/Future I-49 corridor which runs right through the parish, and the Acadiana Regional Airport, the former Naval Auxiliary Air Station surrounded by 2500 acres of developable property. The Acadiana Gulf Access Channel is currently undergoing a dredging process to deepen its access channel from 13 feet to 20 feet in depth...a huge increase which will allow heavier traffic in from the Gulf of Mexico. Iberia Industrial Development Foundation President & CEO Mike Tarantino with First Solar CEO Mark Widmar and Iberia Parish President M. Larry Richard (Courtesy: First Solar). " Lafayette and Iberia Parishes share a workforce with a population of approximately 600,000 people who traverse the region. What positively affects one parish also positively affects the other. 2023 has been a very busy and productive year in Iberia Parish with a number of new developments taking shape that present great potential for growth in Acadiana.  The biggest announcement recently was the news of First Solar investing $1.3 Billion in a 2.3 million square foot facility at the Acadiana Regional Airport, its largest latest generation solar panel facility in the Western Hemisphere. 700 to 1,000 jobs will be created at First Solar, with a starting salary of $80,000. Mike credited UL - Lafayette's engineering department, especially Dr. Terry Chambers of the Department of Mechanical Engineering who works with UL's Photovoltaic (converting sunlight into electricity) Applied Research Lab, along with Dr. Mark Zappi and Dr. Ramesh Kolluru, for helping attract this facility.

Dr. Edmond ("Ed") Dugas, Research Coordinator for the Athletic Network at UL – Lafayette, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss his career at UL - Lafayette and his lifelong dedication to athletics at the institution. In 2002, Ed was the driving force behind creation of the Athletic Network ("AN"), which showcases athletes/sports in UL's past. Mike Spears of Firefly Digital developed the website. AN provides an historical and educational clearinghouse of information about Louisiana athletics and the University spanning over 110 years. It also serves as a communications database for former athletes, support groups, faculty, administration and fans. Ed and his son, John Dugas, are volunteers who personally enter the data and take responsibility for accuracy of the site's materials. It is truly a labor of love and devotion to UL - Lafayette sports! Ed is a native of Evergreen LA (located between Bunkie and Cottonport). A graduate of Evergreen High School, Ed had intended to enter the Air Force Academy but his plans were short-circuited by health issues relating to his inner ears. Luckily, the Principal of his Evergreen High School was close friends and the college roommate with SLI (now UL - Lafayette) President Joel Fletcher, who convinced Ed that he should attend college in Lafayette. And as they say....the rest is history. When Ed started college in 1958, UL Lafayette was then known as South Louisiana Institute or "SLI." Its original name was SLII (South Louisiana Industrial Institute). In 1960, the university was renamed to USL, an acronym for University of Southwestern Louisiana, and an endeavor in which Ed was actively engaged. (The university was renamed to University of Louisiana at Lafayette in September 1999. Ed joking says that "We change our name every 39 years." Governor Mike Foster signing legislation renaming USL to University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Ed looks back upon his time at USL with fondness and shares how student workers worked hard, up to 100 hours per month, for the sum of $40 per month, while they still had to pay $16 per month to cover room and board! But the experience was invaluable and Ed taught tennis and coached basketball as he worked with Dave Fisher. Ed went on to graduate from USL in August 1962 and was mentored by USL's late, great basketball coach, Dutch Reinhardt. He earned a Masters and Doctorate in Physical Education and Education Administration. He looks back with admiration of the talented staff he worked with, including Dr. David Fisher, Fred Nelson, Clyde Wolf, Dr. Jim Kennison, and Al Simon. Ed served on the UL faculty in a variety of positions and ranks from 1967 until he retired in 2001. Administratively, he served in the following positions at USL: Coordinator, Men’s Physical Education; Coordinator, Graduate Studies for the College of Education; Head, Department of Health and Physical Education; and Director of Student Teaching. He was the first Executive Director of the Louisiana Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. In 1988, Ed was one of three graduates selected as “Outstanding Graduates” from the USL College of Education in their 25th year after their graduation date. In 2001, he was awarded the Professor Emeritus title at UL -Lafayette. Dr. Ed Dugas pictured in red jacket with the first officers of the new College of Education Alumni Chapter, with Dr. Ray Authement on far right. As you’ll hear during this interview, Ed has been anything but a retiree in the past twenty years. Ed’s life has been defined by athletics, both in teaching and reporting on the athletic history of UL – Lafayette through the Athletic Network, which provides a place for former University athletes and fans to connect and join support teams for their favorite sports. After a two-year hiatus, the Athletic Network went live again on December 13, 2023 thanks to a significant donation made to the Athletic Network by Edmond “Bruce”...

Our guest today is Charles Edwards, CEO and Founder of One Telemed, a telehealth service for mental health patients in underserved communities for a majority of the Medicaid Managed Care Organizations in Louisiana.  One Telemed uses innovative HIPAA video/audio technology to connect individuals in need of licensed professionals, reducing the wait time for a new patient needing to see a Psychiatrist from 90 days to 3-5 days. For more information, please visit https://www.onetelemed.com/about A native of Lafayette, Charles has worked in the mental health field since his first job out of high school 28 years ago. His life journey has been defined by the call for service, a call he heard from God who reached out to him with a distinct voice. During the interview, Charles shares the story of the persistent voice that has led him to step up and serve others. His own life was changed by a traumatic brain injury he suffered the weekend before he left for De Vries Institute. He was playing basketball with buddies, and says, "That moment changed my life forever....I went up for a dunk, me and a guy got tangled there, and I landed from eight feet up onto my head. I had a blood clot on my brain and my spine. I didn't breathe for about 3 to 5 minutes." He regained consciousness but his brain started swelling and he was throwing up. The doctors didn't think he would make it due to the length of time without oxygen and the brain swelling. Charles recalls awakening from his coma in his hospital bed and hearing a voice calling him. "I hear my name, the same voice that called out to me before. I opened my eyes and saw a tunnel with a hand coming out. And I took it. I remember looking down at myself. Then I looked up and saw this ball of energy, this ball of light. It was God!" God asked him if he wanted to stay or go back and do His work. While Charles wanted to stay, God wanted him to go back and do the work he was meant to do. This near death experience introduced him to a higher force that has led him to serve others in love ever since. Charles is a persistent fellow who keeps going no matter the challenge before him. He has experienced miraculous events and circumstances that continually remind him that his life has purpose, as long as he follows God's calling. Before Charles founded One Telemed, he worked in a series of jobs, including as Community Liaison and a Regional Director of Community Relations for one of the largest mental health providers in the state of Louisiana. It was through that experience that he learned firsthand that people in underserved communities did not have access to mental health care. He came to realize that utilizing the traditional method of delivering services would not be an effective way to resolve the need for the growing mental health crisis. So, he heeded his higher power's call for him to serve. In August 2013, Charles pioneered the movement for Telepsychiatry services and started Advance Telehealth, a telemedicine technology company. In September 2017, he started a provider company and founded One Telemed with a goal in mind to improve patient outcomes by making mental health treatment accessible to all, no matter their income or location in Louisiana. One Telemed provides trauma and grief counseling over video conferencing technology, thus allowing individuals to talk with a licensed professional from anywhere in Louisiana in a private and safe environment for healing and growth. Other services offered include Brain Tap Therapy, Transition Care Management, and Clinical Oversight for Behavioral Health patients. Charles Edwards, owner of One TeleMed, received the Small Business of the Year Award by Junior Achievement of Acadiana in 2021. "I've always had a heart for service." One Telemed now employs 27 and is actively hiring. Approximately 40,000 patients in Louisiana are being served and Charles is currently in negotiations with a national provider to expand One...

Third-generation restauranteur Madonna Broussard, proprietor of Laura's II Café, is our guest. Located at 1904 W. University Avenue, Laura's II is named after Madonna’s grandmother, Laura Williams Broussard, who originally started a restaurant in her home kitchen on Voorhies Street in 1968. Laura’s II offers the comforting soul foods Madonna was taught to cook by her mother, Dorothy Mae Broussard, who was in turn taught by her mother-in-law, Laura. When people ask what is her secret behind her delicious food, she says "The secret is all about time and consistency. It is a science: start cooking, cook for hours, and taste, taste, taste." The staples of stuffed turkey wings, fried catfish, fried pork chops, fried chicken, red beans and rice, smothered okra, and much more....all with a heavy emphasis of rice and gravy, are beloved by Madonna's longtime customers as well as newcomers who flock to experience the rich soul consistently food offered day in and day out, from 10:30 a.m to 2:30 p.m. every day except Mondays. Lauras' II opened on January 8, 2000, and just celebrated 24 years in business. The delicious food Madonna and her team offer have become known both in the U. S. and internationally due to the incredible exposure she gained through the late Anthony Bourdain and superblogger Mark Weins. People travel in from all over just to taste Laura II’s food. Locals also happily wait in line to enjoy the comforting Creole food cooked only like Lauras' II can. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=BEbKyZSpBQk Madonna reminisced about the beautiful Sunday dinners she grew up on, at her grandmother Laura's home: "My grandmother's Sunday dinners were exceptional, like Thanksgiving every Sunday. We had beef tongue, rice dressing, beets, rice and gravy, every great staple you can think of." Madonna's grandmother was the leader of this successful restaurant business concept and the menu she originally developed in 1968 is still found at Laura's II. Madonna's mother, Dorothy, was the one who instilled in Madonna the need for kindness and love for their clientele. "It's about respect for your customers. We want you to feel comfortable and come back." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC2Wz-uaDf0 Madonna says she spends "99.9%" of her time at work at the cash register. Greeting people and welcoming them into the restaurant is most important. "We want to know people's names and have them want to come back." She credits Sid Williams for introducing her to Anthony Bourdain in 2018, who showed up with ten minutes notice one Sunday morning to film a segment for his CNN show "Parts Unknown." Bourdain's team was in the area to film a Courir de Mardi Gras Chicken Run, but rain prevented them from participating. They were looking for an alternative venue to shoot on the day that was both Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day. Sid had them call Madonna and she "got ten minutes heads up. He was subtle, very subtle. To have him come, as such a Foodie, was a great experience. I met him at the door. He looked around and saw people together in the dining room and asked if it "was always like this with all these people together. He said keep it like this.' That meant a lot to me as he gave such affirmation, particularly about our culture." People still clamor to sit at the table where Bourdain feasted on the ever-popular stuffed turkey wing dinner. Madonna Broussard and Lauras' II have survived 24 years in business, learning along the way how to keep the books, meet business needs, and go with the flow. The challenges presented by the COVID shutdown led Madonna to stay open, set up a tent, and learned how to be "car hops." She described being outside in the rain and all the elements, with a note pad and pen, taking orders, while a "day care" inside consisted of kid and grandkids running around. "We curbsided a lot food!" When asked if Lauras's would ever expand outside of the Lafayette market...

Ben Broussard, Chief of External Affairs for Catholic Charities of Acadiana, joins us to discuss the nonprofit's mission. Since 1973, Catholic Charities has worked to provide essential services to the most vulnerable people in our community who experience hunger, homelessness and poverty. A separate nonprofit organization from the Diocese of Lafayette, many services are 100% donor funded and others are buttrosed through grants from government and private organizations. The organization has traditionally taken care of our most vulnerable neighbors through outreach efforts for disaster response, as well St. Joseph Diner, St. Joseph Shelter for Men, St. Michael Center for Veterans, the Stella Maris Center, and the Monsignor Sigur Center. In the past several years, other critical services have been added to Catholic Charities' umbrella of services including The Emily House in 2018, which offers an emergency shelter for homeless women and children. They have also added new responsibilities by taking over the Immigration Services and Deaf Action Center formerly run by the Diocese of Lafayette, as well as assuming management of FoodNet Food Bank and Rebuilding Together Acadiana.  In 2019, Catholic Charities also became entrepreneurs by taking over ownership of Crossroads Catholic Bookstore, which is now known as Crossroads Collective.  "I feel that all of us are called to do something for our neighbor who stands to suffer. It is easy to think about it during the cold weather or a disaster, but in someone's every day disaster or situational crisis, they also need help." The recent extreme cold snap in January 2024 has presented a challenge to the organization as our community's homeless population has risen dramatically. And then, the ancient heating system in St. Joseph’s Diner broke on January 15, 2024, and needs to be entirely replaced. Day in and day out, Catholic Charities is here for our community. It’s time for more of us to be there for them. A quick background on Ben Broussard: for eleven years, Ben previously worked as Chief of External Affairs for the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association with the late Don Briggs. His heart was always in sync with service to others, so when Kim Boudreaux, Executive Director of Catholic Charities, approached him to serve with her organization, Ben's temperament and ability to mobilize the troops when needed was a ready fit. Ben is an articulate and passionate spokesperson for Catholic Charities and is inclusive in his call for help in whatever way concerned community members feel they can step up. You do not need to be Catholic to be involved, nor do you need to be an active church-going member of any congregation. "The entirety of the 70501 zip code in Lafayette is a food desert. We have very vulnerable clientele come in and St. Joseph Diner is one thing they can bet on, that they can get a meal there. It is very much a very volunteer-centric operation with many volunteers coming in throughout the day." On any given day, Catholic Charities' St. Joseph Diner feeds 700 to 800 meals.....breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days per week. On any given night, Catholic Charities also houses about 160 people, including men, women, children and Veterans. With the recent deep freeze, Lafayette Fire Chief Robert Benoit gave the OK for more people to be sheltered than would normally be allowed by law to accommodate the dire need for a warm space. Catholic Charities' permanent housing program has traditionally been an extremely successful tool to help our homeless population get back on their feet in a stable environment while dealing with the underlying causes that led to homelessness, such as addictions, mental illness, physical disabilities, etc. Before COVID, Lafayette's occupancy rates were at about 80% and Catholic Charities could work with landlords to negotiate affordable rates for their clients. Now, in the aftermath of Hurricanes Laura, Delta and Ida,

Calogero "Carlos" Todaro, renowned for his expertise in all things relating to wine, joins Discover Lafayette to share his adventures in the U. S. over the past sixty-two years. Carlos is well-known in the Lafayette area for his hard work ethic and desire to be of service to others. For years, he and his brother, Gene, were the resident wine experts at Marcello’s Wine Market in Lafayette. After the sale of Marcello’s last year, Carlos retired from working full time, but is still providing his expertise for pairing wines with food for the grateful customers of Champagne’s Market in the Oil Center. "I have always been fortunate to have met many nice, kind and generous people throughout my life. People have been kind to me in so many ways. I try to repay as best I can." Carlos has a rich family history. A native of Palermo, the capital of the Italian island of Sicily, he’s lived in the U. S. since 1961 when the family moved to New Orleans from Sicily. Interestingly, Carlos' dad was already a U. S. Citizen, having been born in Pueblo CO in 1915; his dad's family returned to Sicily when he was young. After his dad served in the Italian Army in WWII, he realized he wanted to return to the U. S. Carlos joked that his dad wrote a letter to then U. S. Senator John Kennedy asking for help and he got his Visa a few months later! Pictured in Palermo, Sicily, 1956, is the Todaro family send-off of cousin Blaise Todaro, who was headed to New Orleans. Calogero "Carlos" Todaro would follow with his immediate family members in 1961 where they relocated to New Orleans to live with Aunt Lucy. No one in Carlos' family spoke English when they moved to the U. S. The "Marcello's name is a tribute to brother, Marcello Todaro, who attended USL and realized there was no authentic Italian restaurant in Lafayette. Brother Gene moved to Lafayette to assist with opening the restaurant, and along with Marcello, opened the original Marcello's on the Abbeville Highway in 1981. Carlos moved to Lafayette to open up a grocery store next door to Marcello's, bringing along his expertise as a longtime manager of A & P in New Orleans. "Mama (Rosalie Todaro) was a very good cook, using a minimum of spices and the least amount of money. Pasta with broccoli, for example, a staple of Sicily. Feed a whole family of five people within your budget. We ate very little meat and chicken was a treat." Marcello's enjoyed great success and moved into a larger space at Time Plaza where it remained until the oil bust of 1987/88 forced its closure. Todaro family pictured in Glen Ellen, CA for Marcello's wedding in 1990. Carlos moved to Memphis with his brother, Marcello, to sell wine for a liquor company and met many of the greats in the industry such as Jordan and Fetzer. In the meantime, brother Gene opened two liquor stores, one in New Orleans and one in Lafayette in the old La Promenade Mall. When Gene decided to reopen Marcello's Restaurant in 1993, Marcello and Carlos returned from Memphis to help in the family venture. Carlos reminisced how they started selling wine on the sidewalk outside of Marcello's to make extra money to float the restaurant's expenses. In 1994/95, Marcello's Market moved to its current location at 2800 Johnston Street and Carlos says, "It's been successful since Day One." It was the first wine retailer in the area, way before Total Wines or other box stores. With all of the acumen and discernment Carlos brought to Marcello's Wine Market, he says he never trained formally. "I am self taught. You don't really know anything until you go to wineries and see the process. I always learn from others. There is always someone who knows more than you." Dustin andJolie Poirier, Kyle and Stefanie Kellner, and Tim Metcalf acquired Marcello’s Wine Market in 2023 from owners Carlos and Gene Todaro. Marcello's has been the place to go for decades for all liquor needs including wine, beer, spirits, mixers,

Restauranteurs and brothers, Patrick and Steven O’Bryan, owners of Bon Temps Grill and Whiskey & Vine restaurants, join Discover Lafayette to share their love of their industry, the importance of good service focused on their clientele, and their successful partnership in running a family business together since 2011. Patrick and Steven O'Bryan are respectful and loving toward one another. Wise and funny, they are full of practical wisdom for up and coming entrepreneurs who want to open their own restaurant. To understand their success, it is important to note that they both spent years working for others as they learned to hone their craft. They bring best practices of the restaurant business to their local investments in restaurants and catering. Both men had extensive experience in the restaurant business. They waited tables, cooked, and bartended. Patrick started out by bussing tables at Cafe Vermilion for Ken Veron while in college. "The first thing I learned to do was fold a napkin. It was the best job you could have in college." Patrick also learned how to bartend in his early days at the old Ruth's Chris formerly located where the current Whiskey & Vine is at 507 W. Pinhook Road in Lafayette. He was taught to be a flair bartender (utillizing finesse and fancy tricks) by JB Bandy when he worked at TGI Fridays in Lafayette; Bandy, incredibly, was the flair bartending coach for Tom Cruise when he was training for his role in the movie, Cocktail. The older brother by three years, Patrick moved to Dallas after years of working for local restaurants. While employed at Cypress Bayou Casino, he worked with The Freeman Group, a consulting corporation that focused on improving hospitality by teaching the behavioral and technical aspects needed to make a guest's experience exceptional. He left Cypress Bayou to join The Freeman Group and stayed with them for 15 years, getting to travel and work with luxury establlishments all over. It honed his ability to understand what is needed to make a restaurant customer want to come back and be a loyal patron. Steven also worked at restaurants while in college and after graduation, worked with various corporate restaurants, including Copeland's, Semolina, TGI Fridays,and Logan's Roadhouse, the latter of which he was employed with for 15 years. Steven learned the ins and outs of the restaurant business, and shared how hard it is for restauranteurs to stay in business unless they can reach a certain threshold of dollar volume in sales. "If you can't do over $2 million in sales per year as a restaurant ($40,000 per week), you probably won't make it. Unless you personally serve in all the roles....owner, manager, bartender, chef, etc. People can be successful doing that but their quality of life won't be there." Steven realized that he was working to help others build their successful restaurant concepts and for years he asked Patrick to move home and open a restaurant with him. To build their own success. And Patrick finally agreed, it was time. Patrick and Steven O'Bryan grew up learning how to cook from their family, which always included grilling, not frying food. Steven recalls how they learned how to grill food from his dad and a friend, including the art of grilling alligator. Patrick says, "Steven is the cook! I cook just enough to be dangerous! I am a bartender. I am the front guy!" Photo by Leslie Westbrook of The Acadiana Advocate taken in front of Whiskey & Vine After a lot of brainstorming which included posting flip chart paper all over a wall with their ideas, and having the mutual agreement that they wanted to grow a business with a great team, Bon Temps Grill was created. The O'Bryans' first chef at Bon Temps Grill was Alexis Cupich-Indest, a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, which coincidentally is where their mother is from. Alexis left for a while to pursue other endeavors but is now back with the O'Bryans as Executive Chef at Whiske...

Chris Granger, owner of Seven Oaks Grand Coteau LLC, and Maison Title, joined Discover Lafayette to discuss his growing real estate empire. He is an attorney, a married father of five young boys, and a force to be reckoned with! While Chris worked with an established law firm for 2 1/2 years after graduating from law school, he knew he was never going to work for someone else very long. In 2018 he opened up his own law practice with his wife's cousin, Benjamin Trant, and then Justin Leger became the third business partner. Business took off. The logo/painting of Maison Title was derived from an old painting found in a rental home. Leah Graeff, Maison Title's Marketing and Brand Strategist, redesigned the painting and the logo's font is based upon one found on an old sweet potato label, the significance of which Chris explains, "Grand Coteau is the sweet potato capital of the world. Justin, Ben and I found an artist who came up with the font. Only 35 years old, Chris bought his first property, at $70 thousand with 10% down through a bank closing, as his family residence in Grand Coteau while in his third year of law school. It was a perfect starter home for his wife, Meghan, and their young family to live in. When they needed a larger home for their growing family, Chris decided to rent out the Grand Coteau property, which reappraised at $105K after the improvements they had done. Chris and Meghan Granger pictured with their young family. Photo from Facebook. "The light bulb went off about leveraging the $35K equity in the home. Let's leverage what we already have. What if I scale this thing? I could own 25 rental homes. My initial goal was to have 40 by 40! That was my mantra. But it happened quicker than that." Chris's whole portfolio is based upon leveraging. "You can't put down 10 - 20% equity in each house you buy." Chris's portfolio grew to 25 properties quickly. "I'm a big believer in community banks. Being able to walk in and talk to your local baker and explain a deal is invaluable. But they tend to have a tendency to pause you if you grow too fast. When I got to 25 houses I remember being paused. It's a small circle. The first 25 loans were with two local banks. That lasted two years where I was stalled. So I went head in with my practice with Maison Title." Today, Chris Granger owns several hundred residential and commercial properties, which include the former Jefferson Street Pub, now known as The Jefferson, Abacus, the historic site location of Straw Cove Baking Company at 111 Monroe Street, and 160 units in two apartment complexes in Leesville LA. Chris's thriving real estate title closing agency, Maison Title, is also located in Freetown in the old Petro House on Jefferson Street as well as another branch in Grand Coteau LA. Chris defines himself as a "pedal to the medal guy," doing 90% of the work. He admits, "I need help with the last 10%." He relies on his manager of Seven Oaks Grand Coteau, Casey, to run the property management duties full-time. "Everything in my mind is about rentable doors. We have a few over 425 doors. 140 single family units." When asked about scaling his projects, Chris has learned from experience. "You always need the extra employee before you can afford them. Learning to navigate the cash flow conundrum where you have enough work, but you also have to take a leap of faith to hire them. You always need the help before you can afford them." We discussed the current housing market and the affordability issue. "There is a lack of housing in the $150-250K range in our housing market. Anything above $300K we don't see a lot of in our practice. $200-300K is what we see. There's a national, local, regional housing shortage in real estate." Flood insurance costs are a real issue for rentals. 'You do well when you have quantity. The goal is to net $200 to $250 per month per unit. Throw on a $1,000 flood insurance policy,

Melinda Taylor, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity, joins Discover Lafayette to share the work of her organization. A native of Wichita, Kansas, Melinda has served as ED of Habitat since 2000, the year she moved to Lafayette, after serving in a similar position in Hattiesburg, MS. Interestingly, her realtor at the time of her move here in 2000 served on the board of Habitat and encouraged Melinda to apply for the first ED position to be filled here in Lafayette. Now, 24 years later, Melinda is still exemplifying what it means not only to lead, but to inspire others to volunteer and make meaningful change in our community. Habitat serves as both a building contractor and the lender for qualified clients, and helps individuals acheive homeownership who can't otherwise access the commercial lending market. Qualified Habitat clients must make less than 80% of the median income in our region. Although they are individuals with low to moderate income, they are steady in life and willing to partner and work with Habitat toward their goal of homeownership. Some may have no credit or negative credit scores, so they are unable to qualify for a conventional mortgage. Melinda points out that Habitat's clients have the capacity to make the payments of their monthly rent, which unfortunately is sometimes up to 1/3 to 1/2 of their income. It can be more expensive to rent a home in Lafayette than it is to pay for a Habitat mortgage payment. Lower rents are usually tied to substandard housing options, so applicants are eager to get into a Habitat home and enjoy an affordable, well-built, and energy efficient home. Many more applicants apply for the program than can be helped, and some people have a lot of work to do before they qualify. Habitat will send these individuals to other organizations who can help them work on their credit so that they can successfully re-apply. LCG's Community, Development & Planning Department offers a Neighborhood Counseling Service that brings in professionals to teach how to work on getting credit in better shape and stabilizing income in preparation for homeownership. Also, First Horizon's Congress St. branch offers "Hope Inside," a class that helps people work on their credit and learn about home ownership. The Louisiana Housing Corporation offers online training and financial literacy program, and assists low to moderate income individuals prepare for homeownership. Individuals who have judgments or liens against them are precluded from qualifying until these issues are cleared. It can take 18 months to two years for a successful applicant to get into their new home. Patience is needed. The journey to home ownership includes completing an educational process, volunteering time to build other Habitat homes as well as the one they will move into, and of course, the actual build time to construct the house. Funding is derived from a variety of sources and Melinda says "We never get enough funds to build the whole house. HOME grants from HUD are earmarked locally for building affordable housing, and Habitat also leverages these funds with other resources, such as in-kind and monetary donations of all sizes. In 2022, Lafayette Habitat received an unsolicited $2.5 million donation from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. Also, as Habitat homeowners pay their mortgage, the payments go back into the process, so as they make their payments, they are paying it forward because it's reinvested back into the program." Pictured is a Women Build Team from Catalyst Bank in February 2024. Melinda Taylor says, "Volunteers really drive our work. They are the engine that keeps things going. Not just on our construction site but also at our ReStore. We have regular volunteers from the University as well as future homeowners themselves who work alongside our crew. We work with volunteers at all levels. Our crew is patient and teaches our volunteers whatever they need to know.

Travis Schugg, Vice President of Staffing Services at VieMed Healthcare Staffing ("VHS"), joins Discover Lafayette to share how VHS utilizes technology to meet the burgeoning staffing needs across all healthcare specialties in the U. S. He is responsibile for steering the company's long-term strategic direction and day-to-day operations.  Travis moved to Lafayette in 2021 to join VHS after a meeting in Phoenix with VieMed founder, Casey Hoyt. The challenges of recruiting and retaining staff during COVID were issues everyone was trying to figure out, when all of a sudden you couldn't go into people's homes to care for their medical needs. Travis says that respiratory therapists and ICU nurses were the hottest commodities out there at that time. The two men picked each other's brains on this topic: Travis had fifteen years experience in recruiting, and Casey, along with Michael Moore and the VieMed team, were building the best in class respiratory therapy in the U. S. "Over the course of our thirty minute meeting, it became a chess match as to who could pick each other's brain best!" A few weeks after that initial encounter, Travis reached out to Casey Hoyt and jokingly said, "I think I can do some damage with you!" Casey asked him to create a business plan for VieMed to get into the medical healthcare staffing arena. Travis came up with a 50-page business plan and they were off to creating VHS. VHS is a complementary service for VieMed. Historically, healthcare systems, government agencies, and organizations like VieMed would recruit through their Human Resource departments, posting a job and hoping people would apply. "We flipped the script. Recruitment should be more on the offensive, it should be outbound. We promote our brand....we don't just sit and wait for people to apply." VHS started out by visiting every hospital in Louisiana and telling their story. Then they spread across the Gulf Region. Today, just a bit over two short years after inception, VHS recruits for positions open in Massachusetts, Ohio, Vermont, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, North Carolina, and other places across the U. S. VHS has staff in 15 states, and is building organically. Travis believes that VHS offers the best recruitment and workforce team anywhere between Dallas and Atlanta, South of Nashville, being based right here in Lafayette LA. The main specialties in which VHS currently recruits are in nursing, social workers (public and private sector), respiratory therapy, and physicians. VHS also recruits in the allied care fields for workers in pharmacy, imaging and lab techs. They serve employers needing assistance with locum tenens and correctional health positions.There are currently 2400 jobs and when you visit https://jobs.viemedstaffing.com/, you will see an incredible listing of jobs available. Staffing is a $170 billion industry and healthcare staffing accounts for $44-45 billion of that number. It is a unique niche that has been waiting to be met. VHS is growing as it helps their clients, both practitioners and health facilities, by getting to understand their clients' needs. The "why" behind a hiring allows VHS to recruit more successfully and meet the individual needs of each client. Travis explained that the health industry has changed dramatically regarding outside contract help. Fifteen years ago, people wanted a hospital with very few contract workers. The barrier has broken down and this mindset has flipped. Studies show that institutions with a more diverse workforce have better health outcomes for their patients. The contract workers have experienced more, worked in different settings across the country, and bring a plethora of skills to the job setting. Today, facilities are keeping 20- 30% of their workforce as contract labor, and thes health contractors fill in as needed, on weekends, nights, or other, which benefits everyone involved. A new dynamic is that many professionals want to tr...

Lafayette native Brennan Robideaux. recently made big news with the release of his film, Born to Fly, a feature documentary about another Lafayette native, pole vaulter  Armand “Mondo” Duplantis. Born to Fly is a coming-of-age tale about one of the greatest athletes of our generation. Mondo Duplantis is the best pole vaulter in history; he currently holds the world record indoor and outdoor pole vault titles, and won a Gold Medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. This story is about love of craft and the determination of Brennan Robideaux, a young filmmaker who risked everything to capture an evolving story. He traveled on his own dime for much of the filming of Born to Fly, was taken under the wing of the Duplantis family as they allowed him to travel with them to Europe to capture their son's pole vaulting competitions, and only came to acquire financial assistance after several years of filming, directing, and editing the footage that would become an historical documentary, Born to Fly. Brennan Robideaux says, "I'm very passionate about telling Louisiana stories. My main one I'm working on now is the 1991 gubernatorial election with Edwin Edwards and David Duke. That historical story hasn't been delved into and my generation, frankly, was born after it. We have no idea about this election. I want to make a film that tells how we got to that point. Louisiana loves emperesque dictators. We love eccentricities in Louisiana." Brennan started getting jobs while in high school at STM by filming local athletics. He realized he could make a living in film, and enjoyed taping live events for television. He moved up, becoming a camera operator, filming football games from a perch 40 feet high in the end zone for hours at a time. Brennan loved working with adults while still a youngster and joked that he earned the nickname "Two Cents," probably due to sharing his opinion on how things should be done a few too many times! He counts his blessings that by the time he became serious about cinematography, the quality of digital cameras mimicked what you would expect to see from a true film camera. The cost barriers were lower. Traditional film such as used by director Quentin Tarantino are cost-prohibitive for emerging filmmakers operating on a budget. A short film, "A Riehl Blacksmith," featuring Sam Riehl, another STM student who was the youngest professional operating as a blacksmith in Louisiana and America, was a breakthrough accomplishment for Brennan. He says, "This short film really taught me how to tell a story in a short period of time." The short won a few awards: Filmconvert (a New Zealand filmmaker software company) awarded Brennan an honor for filming, editing, and directing, and Soul Pancake, a company founded by Rainn Wilson (of "The Office" fame) licensed the short and put it on its YouTube channel. It was enough to excite Brennan to look at this avocation as a career. And, he was only a Senior in high school. Brennan was invited to attend NFFTY (National Film Festival for Talented Youth) in Seattle due to the success of A Riehl Blacksmith. While he wasn't able to attend, it was the only film festival he made it into until Born To Fly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNzKXBiYcV8 Brennan attended UNO for a short time but dropped out to pursue his passion of filmmaking. By the time he was 21, he was back in Lafayette living with his parents and looking for a project to energize him once more. That motivational project came to life in 2017 after Brennan read a story in the Daily Advertiser about a Lafayette High student named Mondo Duplantis, the world junior record holder in pole vaulting. Brennan was familiar with the Duplantis family as the parents were both incredible athletes (Greg Duplantis was one of the best pole vaulters of his time and Helena represented Sweden in the heptathlon at international championships), and both participated at LSU in track and field events at the same t...

Chad Landreneau, developer of the app, AnimalFindr, joined Discover Lafayette to discuss his mission to connect breeders, buyers, and sellers of livestock such as cattle and horses, as well as family pets. Animal Findr is available on the Apple App store and Google Play. Animal Findr connects buyers and sellers across the nation for any and every pet enthusiast. As Chad's website says, "Whether you are looking for a Catahoula, a calico, a cobra or a cockatiel," you can search on the go as you travel. Buyers and sellers can communicate about a potential sale in real time. The app uses GPS geolocation, geofencing, and real-time motion tracking technology, which allows you to find the animal of your dreams within a 500-mile radius of your location, across the U.S. The app is free, unless you want to subscribe so as to have access to breeding records, registration papers, or the extended family tree of the animal. Subscriptions run from $19.99 monthly to $97.99 for a six-month period. Chad grew up in Mamou, part of a third-generation farming family. He had a couple of horses while growing up, as well as farm animals, so he was always comfortable around animals. A graduate of McNeese State University, Chad worked on a Western Pleasure Horse farm while in college and enjoyed the experience. When he moved back to Lafayette after a stint working in Dallas, he came across a horse trainer who convinced him to buy a horse and give racing a whirl. Chad says, "I got bit by the bug. First we traveled to races in South Louisiana, then across Louisiana." It was during that time that he spent many weekends in the stands waiting for a race with his horse to occur and he had plenty of time to notice the behavior of other people sitting around him. "You only compete for a couple of minutes when your horse races. The rest of the time you just sit in the stands. I noticed that everyone's heads were down. I walked through the venue and saw that everyone was scrolling on their phone or an IPad. They were looking for their 'winner'. I wondered how I could effectively connect people who want to buy animals with those who want to sell." When he searched online for horses, he found sites that sell the animals by discipline, such as Barrel Racers, Race Horses, or Western Pleasure. But no sites just listing horses of all backgrounds. "I wanted a one-stop shop where all horses, as well as cattle, dogs, cats, sheep, birds, or exotic animals could be bought and sold. So, Chad created an app where users can post in real time and find their desired animal. "If I get in a truck and drive down the road for 3,000 miles, I wanted something that had the GPS technology that would reload other opportunities to buy or sell animals depending on where I was located in the country. I wanted people to find animals for sale outside of their usual territory of where they lived, as they might be traveling for horse shows or vacations. And I wanted instant messaging so if you see something you like, you can connect with the owner. It's a way to truly connect buyers and sellers in real time, on the go." In October 2023, Chad launched Animal Findr and the app was recently updated in February 2024. "I wanted to make sure the app works, and is rock solid in all capacities, in Android and Apple before we did the hard push. Now we have hundreds of users....buyers and sellers." Animal Findr connects the buyer and seller, but is not involved in the actual exchange of the animal or the payment. The customers handle the actual purchase and no money is made by Animal Findr off the sale. Josh Richard of Burning Stick Creative has helped Chad market this new app. Chad recounts how he's had to learn about Tik Tok, Instagram, FaceBook, and the ins and outs of working a website. He also shared how starting a business is not always easy. His first website programmer took his money and then hit the road.

Randy Daniel joins Discover Lafayette to discuss his career in the restaurant business, an endeavor he has loved since his first gig at 14 years old working in catering services. Randy is a principal partner in OMW Restaurant Holdings, the owner and operator of La Pizzeria, as well as Kat Daddy wings, a delivery-only restaurant. OMW is the operating partner of Mercy Kitchen, Palmyre, and BJ's Pizza House. Each restaurant offers a unique culture and cuisine. Service as a board member for the Louisiana Restaurant Association, as well as being President of its local Acadiana Chapter the past four years, has given Randy greater insight to the common struggles restaurant owners face. He says, "It is a daily struggle to make money throughout the state of Louisiana. The average restaurant makes about one cent on each dollar of sales, although of course there are some who do much better." Prices have skyrocketed with inflation and post-COVID market forces. The industry has seen a 20% increase in food costs, a 30% increase in labor costs, and insurance premiums have gone through the roof. Even if a restaurant's sales increase, the business may not see a profit. Also, Randy says, "We've gone from a cash society to a credit card society, which increases the cost of doing business. I'm personally dead set against the customer having to cover that. You bake it into the cake. There are restaurant owners trying to figure out how to pass it on. If you have a restaurant with $1 million in sales, you're paying about $40,000 in processing fees a year." "I always used to have a mathematical formula to figure out how much to charge for a dish. That multiplier doesn't work anymore. Not because the math is off, but because customers aren't willing to pay what it costs to cover the actual cost of the dish. A restaurant's number one competitor is grocery stores, because customers aren't willing to spend." Photo by Scott Clause of the Advertiser. Randy brings years of experience to OMW Restaurant Holdings, having served as director of operations for Double R Restaurant Group (former owners of Romacelli, POUR and Another Broken Egg locations), as well as 18 years with the Outback Steakhouse group. Through his work with Double R Restaurant group, he worked closely with Stuart Ottinger. When Double R decided to dissolve, Randy and Stuart first operated their own restaurants before joining forces to bring unique concepts to Lafayette. Today, Stuart Ottinger, through his company, OPG, is the controlling owner of Mercy Kitchen and Palmyre restaurants; OMW is the Operating Partner. Randy credited Colleen Ottinger, Stuart Ottinger's wife, for her incredible sense of style in creating the beautiful interiors of Mercy Kitchen and Palmyre. Recounting his much-anticipated opening of La Pizzeria in February 2020: "I was in D. C. meeting with U. S. Rep. Mike Johnson in March 2020 and learned that the government would be shutting down on March 13. That was the most fortunate I've ever been in a meeting. I was able to fly home, sit down with my managers, and come up with a plan. I had to say, 'We all have two choices; we can work seven days a week, stay open and keep as many hourly staff as we can, or we can close our doors.' We didn't know yet about PPE. To their credit, our managers said, 'Let's do it!" And, the restaurant survived. La Pizzeria baked Apple Brie The Acadian Pizza at La Pizzeria Kat Daddy Wings, a "ghost kitchen," was a result of COVID. Kat Daddy Wings sells prepared food for delivery only. It was one of the first ghost kitchens in Lafayette. With a mainly fried food menu, it was developed initially as a way for OMW to stay profitable during COVID. Randy hopes one day to see Kat Daddy Wings in a brick and mortar location. Randy shared valuable lessons he learned after purchasing popular long-time restaurants La Pizzeria and BJ's Pizza House, the latter of which was reopened by BOG Investments,

The beautiful Louisiana Swamp Base, a national conservation and high adventure recreation program created by the Evangeline Area Council, Boy Scouts of America in 2010, is our focus this episode. Swamp Base aims to immerse thousands of young people in the environment and culture of the 1.4 million acre Atchafalaya Swamp each year. It is open to the general public for all kinds of activities, including ecotourism events for travelers, and the program also partners with universities across the U. S. to expand curriculum offerings.   Jason Sikora, of RADER studios, recorded this interview with host, Jan Swift, along with Swamp Base Executive Director Ben Pierce, and Gina Beckman, Program Director. The Atchafalaya is home to hundreds of species of birds, mammals and reptiles. People who visit from across the U. S have many preconceived notions about what it means to live in Louisiana, and Ben Pierce and his team savor the opportunity to change minds and hearts. https://youtu.be/9v-_EeeBdMg Each summer, Swamp Base's high adventure treks offer 6 day/6 night paddling trips through the Atchafalaya Swamp, covering 61.6 miles. Modeled from the Boy Scouts of America’s four National High Adventure camps and bases (Philmont Scout Ranch, Northern Tier, the Florida Sea Base, and the Summit Bechtel Reserve), Swamp Base offers a premier camping and paddling adventure opportunity for youth serving organizations from across America. A group of Scouts and registered adult leaders attending Swamp Base are called a "Trek Crew." Each Trek Crew consists of registered Scouts in the Boy Scouts of America or other accepted youth serving organization, including a minimum of two registered adult leaders. Swamp Base daily starts two Trek Crews on their high adventure journey from June 6 - July 15. Each Trek Crew consists of 8 to 11 people, which includes a minimum of 2 adult leaders. With two crews starting daily, a Scout unit can bring 16 to 22 people on a high adventure trek. The cost are $795 per person, or with a larger group. $745 per person. Hotel stays for the first night and last night are provided (in Lafayette) and all meals are covered. Visit https://www.swampbasebsa.org/trek-1-itinerary for more information. Ben Pierce is a founding member and co-creator of Louisiana Swamp Base and originally established the program as a conservation-based activity during the Evangeline Area Council's Centennial of Scouting celebrations in 2010. He has led the development and growth of the program as an accredited and official BSA high adventure base since 2013. Passionate about his work, Ben enjoys paddling whenever he can and finds refuge in the beautiful Cypress-filled Atchafalaya Basin. He graduated from LSU in landscape architecture and left Louisiana afterward. "I fell in love with Louisiana after I left. You don't know what you're missing until you're gone. When I had a chance to return in 2009-10 and have a chance to learn how to celebrate our local landscape and culture, it had become important to me. When I came back, I knew I had to leave a lasting legacy." Gina Beckman was introduced to Swamp Base in 2016 when she served as a summer trek guide, and returned to the program in 2022 as the organization's Program Director. In this role, she develops and implements trek activities that align with the mission of the organization while also making sure learning and having fun are at their cores. Gina is the recipient of the Girl Scout Gold Award, Venturing Silver Award, and Sea Scout Quartermaster Award. She brings inspirational enthusiasm and know-how as she educates others on this national treasure, the Louisiana Swamp Base. One of her favorite experiences occurs on day three of Trek 1 and is known as "Forgotten Cove" by Lake Dauterive. The Evangeline Area Council, BSA, is celebrating its 100 year anniversary this year and has made a lasting commitment to the Atchafalaya Swamp as its ser...

Carencro Mayor Charlotte Stemmans Clavier joins Discover Lafayette to share her journey in business and politics. A life long resident of Carencro, Charlotte grew up in a political family. Both of her grandfathers served as police jurors for Lafayette Parish. Back in the day when political business was handled a bit more informally, and before open meeting laws, one of her granddads, Eddie Stemmans, would include her in political outings. Charlotte remembers "being the little girl sitting on an ice chest, that would go get them a beer. After watching it a little bit, I realized I wanted to do this! I've seen all sides of politics, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I always enjoyed it and knew I would run for public office." Pictured from left: Carencro Police Chief David Anderson, Mayor Charlotte Stemmans Clavier, along with City Council members Alfred Sinegal, Jordan Arceneaux, Danielle Caprito, Antoine Babineaux, Jr., and Taylor James. Charlotte graduated from Carencro High and three years later from Tulane University.  While in college, she worked as an intern for Jim Gelpi, the founder of The Alliance for Good Government. She loved the experience and it shaped her attitude in serving others at the highest level of integrity and fiscal responsibility. Studying at Tulane also shaped her and Charlotte recalled the challenging studies offered by the university with a demanding expectation that students master educational materials. With her experience of working in the family business, Stemmans, Inc. - The Horse Supply Specialists, Charlotte was used to hard work and says, "I went to work at 11, ran my first store at 12, so my idea of college was different." Today, Charlotte is President of Stemmans, located on Gloria Switch Road, and responsible for the day to day operations of this iconic, family-owned store, originally opened in 1968 as a tack shop by her parents, Don and Janet Stemmans. She has worked in the business for 35 years. Growing up in the horse industry has shaped Charlotte's life; she gives back to the industry by currently serving as Vice President of Louisiana Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association, which represents all racehorse owners and riders in the state. While Charlotte hasn't ridden a horse in years, she is the proud owner of racehorses and at our interview was looking forward to Evangeline Downs opening night on April 5, 2024. Charlotte served as mayor pro tempore of Carencro from 1999 until 2003, during the tenure of former Mayor Tommy Angelle. She was elected mayor in November 2022. "I love, love, love what I do. It's the perfect job for me. I have a great group of people that work with me. Carencro is a community on the grow. We're a blessed town. Many people are moving in, moving north, due to high insurance rates. There are 1400 homes in active development in the City of Carencro." With its rapid growth, there are many infrastructure needs to be addressed such as sewer plants, replacing old gas and water lines. Charlotte is also advocating for a new light to be installed by DOTD at the busy intersection of Ira and University Avenue. "I am proud to announce that we are beginning the next phase of replacing our old water lines and moving one step closer to Carencro's occasional brown water issues becoming a thing of the past. Thank you to our fantastic Water and Sewer Department and Fenstermaker and Associates for moving our city forward with top-tier water infrastructure." - Mayor Charlotte ClavierPosted by City of Carencro Government on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 News of the $8.9 million Louisiana Avenue extension from Butcher Switch Road to Gloria Switch Road, is exciting news for Carencro. Not only will this open up opportunities for development, but it will greatly assist commuter traffic. The project is expected to take a year or so to complete. The City of Carencro offers lots of fun activities for residents and visitors alike.

Ross Murphree, President of Olde Tyme Grocery Group, joins us today to discuss his family-owned restaurants, which include Olde Tyme Grocery, Sandra’s Café and Health Food Store, and BJ’s in Broussard. The patriarch behind this conglomerate of eateries is Ross’s father, Glenn Murphree, who originally purchased Olde Tyme Grocery in 1982. It has become one of Lafayette’s most iconic spots known for its classic poor boy sandwiches made on fresh Langlinais Bakery bread every day. Olde Tyme Grocery has been recognized for its excellence by national publications, being voted #1 Budget Dining in the Nation on Trip Advisor Travelors' Choice Awards and ranked #2 in USA Today's Best Po'Boys in Louisiana. Olde Tyme Grocery's Glenn Murphree in the early days. Ross recounted the story of Glenn's foray into the poor boy business. A native of Chalmette, Glenn attended USL in the late 1970's, and enjoyed his time in college, driving a Budweiser truck for Schilling Distributing and managing the Keg. In May of 1982, Glenn bought a little grocery store at 218 W. St. Mary Blvd. near USL's campus, named Olde Tyme Grocery. At that time, it had aisles of groceries and a small delicatessan space, which was frequented by the neighbors on small grocery runs. Short on cash, Glenn borrowed $8,000 from his dad and $8,000 from the bank, and he was on his way. Interestingly, Glenn had little to no experience in the food business at the time, having worked for only two weeks at a poor boy shop while in high school and swearing he would never do it again! Now, 42 years later, things seemed to have worked out for this highly successful endeavor. Olde Tyme Grocery's menu is simple and hasn't changed much in the past 42 years. Sixty per cent of its sales revolve around the highly popular shrimp poboy. "It keeps us in business," Ross says. Besides offering deli meats and gourmet specials, Olde Tyme is known for its catering, and the restaurant feeds UL's teams when they travel out of town. During UL's summer football camp, Olde Tyme will prepare up to 1500 bag lunches in one day. There are different nightly specials where you can order a full-size poboy for $7.00 including tax. Monday's special is a whole meatball poboy; Tuesday is ham; Wednesday is sausage, and Thursday is turkey. If you are looking for a filling meal or great leftovers, there is no better deal. The snowball stand, located right behind Old Tyme, is open from April 1 through September 30 each year. Olde Tyme Grocery operates at a high volume of sandwiches, averaging 700 on Monday through Thursday, and up to 1000 on any given Friday. During Fridays in Lent, business doubles, and up to 2000 sandwiches will be served. Ross says that they can go through 600 pounds of shrimp on Fridays in Lent, which are always Gulf white shrimp. Ross Murphree says, "Olde Tyme Grocery was my dad's first child. Today, Ross serves as President, and three other Murphree children, Becca, Brad, and Greg are involved in various aspects of the business. For more information on Olde Tyme Grocery's menu, visit https://www.oldetymegrocery.com/#/ BJ's in Broussard is another popular lunch spot owned by the Murphrees. In the mid-1990's, Glenn was interested in expanding Olde Tyme Grocery and came across the site of BJ's. He and his wife, Cherie, only had three children and the timing seemed good. But plans changed when a fourth and then fifth child came along quickly and the decision was made to leave BJ's as is. Ross gave a big shout out to "Ms. Jenny" who was employed by BJ's several years before the Murphrees purchased the restaurant and is still there 27 years later. BJ's food is "in the Old Tyme tradition," and you can get the same poboys as you can at Olde Tyme. Plus, they offer two plate lunch items daily. BJ's is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day except Sunday. Located at 107 N. Morgan Avenue, Broussard LA 70518,

Dale Clark and Ursula Quoyeser join us today to discuss the third annual Fin Feather Fur Food Festival benefiting the Team Gleason Foundation for people living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ("ALS"). Team Gleason Foundation was founded by Steve Gleason, a former New Orleans Saints safety who was diagnosed with ALS in 2011. Since its inception that same year, Team Gleason has provided over $40 million to people living with ALS, supplying critically needed mobility equipment such as shower chairs, wheelchair accessories, and power seat elevators, as well as speech generating devices for those who have lost the ability to speak. Dale Clark is a Lafayette native who works as an engineer for Badger Oil. He was diagnosed with ALS in October of 2020. Ursula Quoyeser is also a Lafayette native and was an educator and coach at ESA and other schools before being diagnosed with ALS in July of 2023. The Festival, known as F5, is a cooking competition where teams compete in the Fin, Feather, Fur or Dessert divisions, along with an auction featuring items such as season tickets to UL-Lafayette's four major sports, framed jerseys of Drew Brees and Jake Delhomme, a pellet grill with wifi, and much more. Tickets are $45 each and entitle you to taste all 45 teams' food entries along with beer and wine included. F5 was started by Dale and his good friend, Joe Bernard, as a way to help people living with ALS. "Team Gleason was the obvious choice," says Dale, and Joe had experience hosting other F5 events for oil and gas industry charitable fundraisers. Last year F5 raised $170,000 and in the previous inaugural year, $168,000. This year, F5 will be held at Blackham Coliseum on Thursday, April 25, from 4 to 8 pm. That day also features Festival International and Dale encourages people to drop by Blackham Coliseum first before heading out to a night of musical entertainment. You can purchase tickets to F5 by visiting https://www.facebook.com/events/787195629932250 About 5,000 people in the U. S. are diagnosed with ALS each year. It is difficult to diagnose and is often diagnosed by ruling out other diseases, which can take months or years. There is no cure for ALS, which is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in which a person's brain loses connection with the muscles. Symptoms start with a progressive loss of muscle control. ALS kills motor neurons, causing muscles to weaken and eventually paralyze. People with ALS lose their ability to walk, talk, eat and in time, breathe. The average life expectancy is 2 to 5 years once diagnosed. 10% of cases are inherited through a mutated gene; the remaining 90% of cases occur without a family history of ALS. Military veterans are more likely to get ALS. For more information, visit https://www.als.org/ Baseball great Lou Gehrig is one of the iconic heroes who was famously diagnosed with ALS in 1938. He went on to play baseball for a full year before retiring on July 4, 1939, giving his "Luckiest Man" speech. Each year, Lou Gehrig Day is celebrated on June 2 by Major League Baseball, marking the day he became the starting first baseman for the New York Yankees. Here at home, Dale and Ursula are bravely facing ALS and doing all they can to help others with the disease, as well as working to keep up their strength. Dale is relatively lucky, having only lost the use of his right arm and developing hoaresness. Ursula exercises daily by going to Red's Health Club and riding her incumbent bike alongside her Aussie Doodle, who wears goggles in sun to protect its eyes. They both have incredible attitudes and want to do all they can to raise awareness of ALS among us here in Acadiana. They are also both patients of Dr. Stanley H. Appel, a world-renowned neurologist at Houston Methodist, who has been at the forefront of ALS research for decades. In his 90's, Dr. Appel is still working to find a cure for ALS. To all of my awesome family and all my amazing f...

Jeannie DelGreco, a Lafayette realtor with eXp Realty, joins Discover Lafayette to share her rich and storied entrepreneurial journey in sales. While Jeannie’s current career today as a mom and realtor with eXp Realty is fulfilling and successful, in this interview, Jeannie looks back at the various lessons learned and experiences she survived that made her the person she is today. And to put it into perspective, Jeannie is a highly successful real estate agent with eXp Realty, being ranked in 2023 by the firm as the #4 sales agent in Lousiana and #2 in Acadiana with $14 million in sales volume. While Jeannie has never thought of herself as a sales person, she remembers as a child launching a small business selling Mother of Thousands (Kalanchoe laetivirens) plants door to door all on her own. She says, "It was a brave thing to do, knocking on doors to sell the baby plants I had placed in small egg cartons, asking people to buy one for 25 cents or 4 for $1.00! At LSU as a student, she similarly worked with a friend, painting t-shirts or party cups for sorority events to earn extra spending money. One summer changed Jeannie's life trajectory when she was asked to spend the summer with her mother's close friend from New Iberia, Sandra DeBlanc, who lived in Columbus, Ohio and was employed as Director of Sales for Victoria's Secret Catalog. Sandy had served in the Air Force Intelligence during the Vietnam War, and was a wonderful role model for this young girl who needed a bit of direction. Sandy hired Jeannie to join the sales force team for Victoria's Secret Catalog for the summer and she was on her way to learning customer relations. During the time Jeannie worked for Victoria's Secret Catalog, it was before the internet became a dominant method way to make sales, and people had to phone in their orders. Catalogs were mailed out weekly and the sales force in Columbus were mainly college girls such as Jeannie. She loved the work and learned how build rapport with customers. She learned how to deal with people who were calling in angry about an order that had gone awry, as well as those who were just shopping, asking for assistance. Jeannie found it natural and easy to describe the garments, get the customers to envison themselves in an outift, and suggest ways to finish a look, encouraging customers to buy more, thereby increasing average order volume. She remained in Columbus, and attended The Ohio State University studying business, marketing, and human resources. "I loved the sales work at Victoria's Secret Catalog, and I also learned key lessons from my mom's friend, Sandy, who taught me that you have to pay your dues in the work place. Don't expect to come in and be promoted right away. You have to earn your position." On the day of Jeannie's graduation from The Ohio State University, her parents were in town and attended a festival with her. While enjoying the festival, she met a milliner named Patricia Shypertt who made custom hats and holding a raffle to give away a flat travel hat to the lucky winner. Lo and behold, Jeannie won the hat and started a conversation with the milliner inquiring about her practice of designing hats. This serendipitous event led Jeannie down another path, where she decided to become a milliner. She quit her job at Victoria's Secret Catalog, became a waitress to support herself, and started making custom hats in Columbus, Ohio. Jeannie on graduation day with mentor Sandra DeBlanc "I had always had this idea that to be artistic, it had to begin when you were very young. You couldn't change course in your 20's. Patricia Shypertt (the milliner who mentored Jeannie) was in her 40's and she said, 'Oh no, I just learned how to do this two or three years ago. I'll help you in any way I can." After Jeannie began garnering clients, her parents wanted to invest in her company, and took her on a buying trip to New York City. While there,

Kevin Blanchard, CEO of Downtown Development Authority ("DDA") and Downtown Lafayette Unlimited ("DLU"), and Jessica Hauerwas, Executive Director of DLU, join Discover Lafayette to discuss their organizations' missions, focus and programming. The two organizations work together to preserve and enhance Downtown Lafayette’s place as the heart of Acadiana, providing resources for businesses, developers, and community members to keep Downtown Lafayette thriving and successful. DLU was formed in the November 1983 as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization as the oil bust was causing people to relocate, as a mechanism to reinvigorate downtown; DDA was created in 1992 by Louisiana legislation not long after and is supported by a dedicated tax of 15 mills paid by downtown property owners. Kevin was hired to take over the helm of the two organizations earlier this year upon the departure of Anita Begnaud, who served as Downtown Lafayette’s CEO for the past several years. He brings rich experience to the table, having served as Executive Director of the Lafayette Public Trust Financing Authority, COO for Southern Lifestyle and Development, and Chief Development Officer and Public Works Director at Lafayette Consolidated Government under the Joey Durel Administration. He practiced as an attorney with the Onebane Law Firm, was Editor-in-Chief of the Louisiana Law Review and covered government and politics as a reporter for The Acadiana Advocate newspaper. Jessica was hired in November 2023 to oversee DLU’s day-to-day operations and promote downtown as an economic driver, cultural epicenter and key element of the region’s quality of life. She leads its fundraising strategies, nurtures relationships with the organization’s members, donors, and partners, and works on programming DLU's events (such as Bach Lunch, Downtown Alive, and Lunch and Learn) and helps downtown businesses promote their own events. Jessica previously worked in marketing and operations with Acadiana Center for the Arts and had served as president of the DLU board. Family friendly programming is a key focus of Downtown Lafayette, as it not only provides wonderful entertainment for our community, but it serves to drive people downtown who may not have experienced its growing attractions. DDA and DLU are working to have people see downtown as a safe neighborhood, "as a great place to feel free to play, get entertained, work and live," says Kevin. Downtown Alive is celebrating its 40th year Longtime goals of Downtown Lafayette have focused on the construction of residential spaces to attract permanent residents and achieve infrastructure improvements supporting the needs of a vibrant downtown. A residential market study commissioned by DDA shows a demand for 1,000 residential housing units in the downtown area over the next five years. New properties recently completed downtown include the Vermilion Lofts, The Lofts at the Municipal Apartments, and the Monroe Apartments. Building downtown brings its own unique challenges as the streets were built in the late 1800s and properties were placed on postage-size spaces. Kevin explained that there is a higher cost to the developer in repurposing these existing older sites, but the benefit to the community is great as existing infrastructure is utilized and the increased density creates a bigger tax base. "I am so optimistic about where we are in Downtown Lafayette. In 2016, we had a 5,400 person capacity in our downtown bars. Today, that number is 3,000. In 2017, the moratorium on bars was lifted and a conditional use process was put in place. It has promoted a health, active nighlife situation. Six or seven years ago, there were 19 restaurants downtown; now, there are 29." says Kevin Blanchard. Private individuals are seeing the benefits of donating dollars to downtown, and one shining example is the new 6,000 square foot, $1 million state-of-the-art Playground at Parc Sans Sou...

Dr. Amanda Logue, Chief Medical Officer for Ochsner Lafayette General, joined Discover Lafayette to discuss Ochsner's new General Surgery Residency Program. Accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the surgical residency program received nearly 600 applications for three coveted spots. The 5-year surgery program is expected to grow, training a new class of three residents per academic year, wth the inaugural class beginning July 1, 2024. Ochsner is also pursuing accreditation of Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Transitional Year Programs. On April 16, 2024, Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center, the region's only Level 2 Trauma Center, celebrated the launch of its new General Surgery Residency Program, which will begin July 1, 2024. Located inside the new, recently constructed tower at Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center, the completed Graduate Medical Education space will be 17,115 square feet. Phase 1 includes eight resident sleep rooms, a resident lounge, classrooms, rounding rooms and lactation rooms. Phase 2 will house numerous simulation labs and additional classroom space. Ziad Ashkar, MD, will serve as the Designated Institutional Official (DIO), ensuring the program meets the rigorous accreditation standards set by the ACGME. Dr. Dennis Eschete will serve as the Program Director for General Surgery. About 25 surgeons will be rotating, with the core group of teaching physicians being Dr. Willard Mosier, Ochsner Lafayette General's head of trauma, Dr. Jason Breaux, Dr. Michael Horaist and Dr. Racheed “Joe” Ghanami. The new residency program is both a strategic response to the escalating physician shortage and a model for innovative care solutions leading to increased patient access. In a 2024 report, the Association of American Medical Colleges projected that physician demand will grow faster than supply, leading to a projected total shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036. Moreover, Louisiana is projected to rank third nationally for a shortage of physicians by 2030, according to a Human Resources for Health analysis. Speaking of the physician shortage being experience here and nationwide, Dr. Amanda Logue shared that 140,000 patients came through Ochsner University Clinics in 2023. "It's a huge volume, there's a huge need for more physicians." Ochsner Lafayette General's new surgery residency program doesn't replace its ongoing partnership with LSU School of Medicine's at University Hospital & Cinics; it complements it. Dr. Logue stated, "The reality is there's a critical need for more physicians, which is why we started our own program in addition to the existing one. This program also signifies our deep commitment to advancing medical education and addressing the dire need for surgeons in our healthcare system." Importantly, data shows that most physicians practice within 70 miles of where they trained, so Ochsner hopes that Lafayette will be a compelling place for their residents to start their medical careers. The goal of the program is not only to provide top-tier educational opportunities, such as training at the region's only Level 2 Trauma Center, but also to inspire innovation and compassion among the residents. The residents will learn to navigate the complexities of healthcare delivery with a patient-first approach, having the opportunity to take part in cutting-edge research and be at the forefront of developing new surgical techniques. Ochsner Health is Louisiana's top healthcare educator of physicians. Annually Ochsner and its partners educate thousands of healthcare professionals. It currently offers 33 Acreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education programs, training over 330 residents and fellows each year. Dr. Logue is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Clinical Informatics, having completed her undergraduate training at LSU in microbiology,

Jamie Harson, owner and chef of Scratch Farm Kitchen, joins Discover Lafayette to share her commitment to serving the highest quality, fresh, locally sourced ingredients, in delicious combinations which fit the needs of any patron's dietary preferences or restrictions. Located at 2918 Johnston Street in the Winnwood Shopping Center, Scratch Farm Kitchen has a growing legion of followers who flock in to see the daily menu, set forth on a board next to the cash register, showcasing the meals of the day. Crowd favorites such as hash-based bowls, grit-based bowls, hamburgers, and a special dish known as Boudini, a biscuit topped with boudin, cheese, egg, pesto, kimchi and Jamie's homemade mayonnaise, are always in high demand. Jamie and her dedicated staff prepare from scratch all of the condiments accompanying meals, including their own ketchup, mustard, mayonaise, cheese, jams, and broths. They cure their own meats, and ferment products such as sauerkraut, kimchi, and sodas. The meals are colorful, delightful in their simplicity, and a testament to the virtues of eating fresh, local, wholesome foods prepared by loving hands. There is no online menu. Fresh ingredients steer the meals of the day....which is how things always used to be. "The best way to describe my food is to say it's street food inspired. It started on grills outside. It's American food, farm to table. I like to say my food is transparent and honest. We can answer questions about what is in our food. It is clean and simple food. Like Julia Child said, 'Food doesn't have to be great masterpieces, it just has to be simple and have good ingredients,'" says Jamie Harson, who relies upon local vendors to source items she does not make herself. Jamie is responsible for all the menu choices, creates the dishes offered, and prepares the soups herself. She speaks highly of her talented staff, who support her vision, saying, "They're the best. I have a dedicated and devoted team that I can trust. I walk in everyday and that's where I want to be. And, our clientele inspire me." "Scratch Farm Kitchen operates only on grills, no fryers and no ovens. Everything is fresh, assembled on the line in the front of the restaurant, with all the prep activity being conducted in the back kitchen. The menu changes seasonally, in keeping what can be sourced locally. And the menu has been a learning process, from experience through the years. "If things don't sell, they're off the menu", says Jamie. Jamie's journey in the food business began as a young child, helping out at her grandfather's farm in Duson. Picking blackberries and figs, as well as pecans on her hands and knees, or shucking corn, typically for eight hours a day. These weren't really her favorite activities. But that's what led her to appreciate the seasonal aspect of local food. After Jamie's grandfather died when she was eight, she lost contact with the idea of farming until she had dream at 18 years of age. Jamie says, "I was in Portland, Oregon, and had all these pictures of a farm in my head, and called my dad (former District Attorney Mike Harson) about it and he said, 'You're dreaming of the family farm.'" Jamie knew she'd be back there one day. Jamie didn't return to our area until she was 30, when she called her dad and said she was ready to go out to the family farm in Duson again. At the farm, which she called "Bon Temps Family Farms," she began raising her family (she now has four children), along with hundreds of pigs, chickens, ducks, goats, and other livestock. Jamie had no experience in farming or ranching, and says she "learned everything on Google!" Her passion from the beginning was starting from 'scratch.' Jamie says, "If I was going to raise chickens, I started when they were little." Jamie jokingly recalled one day when she drove home to the farm on Ridgefield in Duson and saw many state troopers outside of her property; all of her 300 plus pigs ...

Pastor Jay Miller of The Family Church and Lafayette Christian Academy (LCA) joins Discover Lafayette to discuss his latest venture, the launch of KVNTV 19.2 (available on over-the air tv antennas which pick up local broadcasts) and its accompanying app for enjoyment on digital devices. (Pictured above are Chris Rader, Jan Swift, and Pastor Jay Miller at taping of our podcast). KVNTV is scheduled to launch on September 1, 2024, and is based in Lafayette on the campus of Lafayette Christian Academy and The Family Church. The network will deliver free high-definition broadcasts of high school sports throughout Acadiana. With the app, you’ll be able to watch for free from anywhere and enjoy your friends' or families' sporting events. The goal is to bring full coverage of sports events to the masses while showcasing the talent of Acadiana high school athletes, coaches, and athletic programs. Every high school team is invited to participate for free, whether it is football, basketball, baseball, softball, track, volleyball, tennis, dance, cheerleading, etc. Football games will be broadcast live on Friday nights, and Pastor Jay envisions adding Thursday night football games as the network grows in capacity. Video on demand will also be available so that fans can go back and watch their favorite games. An introductory Meet and Greet is scheduled on June 13, 2024, 10 a.m. on the campus of Lafayette Christian Academy, 223 Stone Avenue, Lafayette LA 70507, to discuss KVNTV and how local schools and coaches can participate while earning money for their schools. Attendees will learn "all things media" including how to livestream your event in partnership with KVNTV, how to host an interview or podcast show, what equipment to buy, best media practices, and much more. Incentives to attend the Meet and Greet include door prizes of ipads and iphones. There is no fee imposed upon the schools for uploading sports content. Further, KVNTV will provide videographers, media technicians, and photographers to assist schools in recording their events and shows, with the assistance being made possible through monies generated from advertising dollars. Businesses will find the cost of advertising on KVNTV not only affordable, but also rewarding as their financial support will allow all local high schools to upload their sports content for free. Another perk of advertising on KVNTV is the fundraising capabililty it lends to local schools. 20% of the advertising revenue generated through your business's ads will be returned back to the school that you designate, if that school is a partner with KVNTV. As an example, if Lafayette High Baseball wants to stream their games live or produce an interview show at KVNTV, a business owner that supports the program can sponsor the show and 20% of the advertising revenue is returned to the school's baseball program to use in the manner it sees fit. An even better fundraising opportunity is available for schools who produce and record their own sports shows to broadcast on the network. Advertisers who are connected with that school's programs (i.e., parents, grandparents, or alums) can buy ads on KVNTV and all monies generated stay with the school. It's a built-in moneymaker for the sports program. The school can sell its own commercials and keep the revenue. The bonus is that the business gets their commercial aired and the school keeps 100% of the advertising revenue. If the business wants to advertise on KVNTV outside of their favorite school's programs, they will contract directly with KVNTV and 20% of that advertising revenue will be returned to their designated school. The network will offer content 24/7, seven days a week. As for new content, the goal is to start by offering new content, Monday through Friday, from 6 to 10 p.m., which programs will then replay six times each throughout the week. The Louisiana High School Sports Association (LHSSA) will also be offering content ...

Tracy Tullier, a Breaux Bridge resident and Supervising Guide of Tours at the Louisiana State Capitol, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss her beloved work in guiding people through our state's majestic Capitol, as well as sharing Louisiana's rich history with visitors who hail from all parts of the U. S. and countries around the world. Tracy Tullier at the Louisiana State Capitol, photo credit to Jan Risher, the Advocate. While many Louisiana residents have never experienced the tour of our State Capitol, in 2023 visitors from 115 different countries made the trip, and over 65,000 registered signed in. Tracy explained that in addition to these registered guests, many people don't sign in for a tour but still show up to wander around the beautiful building and make the trip up to the top floor Observation Deck to take in the sights of the Mississippi River, LSU's campus, and surrounding buildings of downtown Baton Rouge and beyond. Tracy came to our attention over the past couple of years when Lafayette Junior Leadership Class students traveled to Baton Rouge to learn about state government, the legislative sessions held at the State Capitol, and have the opportunity to meet elected officials from Acadiana. She makes the day, her smile captures your heart, and you know you are in good hands. Tracy is professional, enthusiastic, and well-informed, ready to shape your understanding about Louisiana, weaving in facts and tidbits of historical events such as when Huey Long was shot inside the Capitol building, how the current State Capitol came to be built, and how the House of Representatives and Senate work. On her tours, Louisiana really comes to life! Pictures below were taken by Jan Risher of the Advocate and depict the chandeliers on the Capitol's first floor (which weigh two tons), and photos of the Senate and House Chambers. The Louisiana State Capitol was built in 14 months, and cost $5 million to construct. It was the brainchild of Governor and U. S. Senator Huey Long. It is the tallest capitol in the United States. And as Tracy Tullier states, "Our capitol has more questions than it does answers" when she recounts the many interesting events that have taken place in the building, including Huey Long's death, the bombing that took place in the Senate Chamber in 1970, and how thereafter, a pencil (or something) got stuck in the Senate Chamber's ceiling. Ironically, Senator Long died before he could dedicate the Capitol, so that honor was fulfilled by his successor, Louisiana Governor Oscar K. ("OK") Allen. Pictured below is a photo of the early Capitol Building. If you haven't made this trip to Baton Rouge to visit the Capitol, this tour should be added to your bucket list of things to do in your lifetime, as it is truly a lifetime adventure and one that will awaken your interest in Louisiana culture. Tracy Tullier and her fellow tour guides are employed by Louisiana's Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism, under the office of Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser. Tracy worked at the Slidell Welcome Center before being employed at the Capitol several years ago, and encourages people to check out all of our state's Welcome Centers to learn more about Louisiana. During the interview, she thanked her boss, Jason Miller, for his support, and complimented her peers throughout the state who are employed at our regional welcome centers who encourage people to check out local attractions, dining, lodging, and events as they pass through Louisiana. Before you travel to the Capitol, you may want to visit online at https://house.louisiana.gov/pubinfo/VirtualTour/lacaphistory.htm to gain more information about the experience. The State Capitol is free and open daily for tours, from 8 till 4:30 p.m. If you want to make a reservation for the tour, call 225-342-7317. The tour guides will confirm your appointment via email. You can also walk in without an appointment and req...

South Louisiana Community College's ("SoLAcc") Anne Falgout, Director of Strategic Communications, and Lana Fontenot, Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement and External Relations and Executive Director of the College’s Foundation, join Discover Lafayette to discuss the latest developments at SoLAcc and its recent rebranding. SoLAcc currently offers more than 50 programs, leading to associate degrees, technical diplomas, and certificates, to almost 12,000 students annually, at its campuses in Abbeville, Crowley, Franklin, Lafayette, Morgan City, New Iberia, Opelousas, St. Martinville, and Ville Platte. The College also offers a wide range of non-credit instruction and training, for careers that need certification training such as power linemen, industrial scaffolding, and commercial driving, which students can complete in under six months. Following an Academic Blueprint prepared five years in advance, SoLAcc endeavors to build educational programs that fit the needs of each community they serve. Many people in our region don't have high school diplomas, and SoLAcc steps up to offer Adult Basic Education Services, assisting individuals in passing the High School Equivalency Exam ("HiSET") which replaced the former GED exam. Students of all ages come to SoLAcc for this program, sometimes after their own children graduate from high school, and are guided by the college counselors to figure out the best way to obtain an appropriate degree while qualifying for grants, loans, and other institutional aid resources to help cover the cost of their education. SoLAcc was awarded the Hunger-Free Campus Award by the Louisiana Board of Regents in 2024. The typical age of a SoLAcc student has declined in recent years, from 27 years of age to 24 years of age today. This is a huge shift in demographics, due to the college's effective outreach program. Additionally, SoLAcc's tuition is on average about 40% less than a tradtional four-year colleges and institutions. Anne Falgout says, "The top issues that come up when we speak with prospective students is affordability and flexibility in classes as they choose which institution to attend. Affordability plus Quality equals Value!" Student Success Live is an in-person new-student orientation that all students take before registering. Guidance on resources and expectations help SoLAcc's retention rate of students. About 3/4 of the college's students are first generation college students and have no frame of reference about what to expect. Many know no one who has gone to college. SoLAcc works to help each student holistically and offers free tutoring at every campus. More than one-half of SoLAcc's students are university bound and find that first obtaining a two-year Associate's degree at the college is the most economical method to earn their credits. SoLAcc partners not only with UL-Lafayette, but also McNeese, Holy Cross, and Nicholls State to offer a 2 + 2 agreement that allows students to seamlessly transfer their credits from the community college to the universities. Lana pointed out that SoLAcc is the largest feeder of students to UL-Lafayette and its graduates start the university ready to excel. The Early College Academy, which is 'baked into SoLAcc's Devalcourt location in Lafayette," is rated in the top 1% of public high schools in Louisiana, and is particularly well-known for its students' math and reading proficiencies. The high school shares faculty with SoLAcc and the benefit of of this dual enrollment program is that students can earn their two-year Associate's Degree while earning their high school diploma. This enables the students to start at a university as a Junior. Many people attend SoLAcc after having graduated from a traditional four-year college and established in a career. As an example close to home, Lana's husband, educated to be a teacher and experienced as a fifteen-year veteran of teaching middle and high school stu...

With June being National Homeowner Month, it seems like a good time to welcome a seasoned Mortgage Loan Officer to Discover Lafayette. Home Bank's Sandy Cormier, NMLS# 493798, Member FDIC/Equal Housing Lender, joins us to discuss the types of loans available to consumers who are looking to build or buy their dream home, as well as what you need to do to qualify for a loan. Sandy has been with Home Bank for 25 years and with that time comes a depth of experience that is hard to beat. Whether its helping first-time homebuyers, people seeking construction loans, or individuals wanting to upsize/downsize their current home, Sandy along with her peers in the Home Bank Mortgage Lending Department are available to assist in providing your best option. Sandy Cormier, Mortage Loan Officer with Home Bank, loves what she does. "You get to help people with the biggest purchase of their lives. And, she says "It is better to buy than rent. Your home is an asset and the current interest rates shouldn't be a deterrent. If you are renting and have to pay the first and last month's rent plus the deposit, you've probably gotten together your 3% needed for a downpayment on owning your home. Having a mortgage is one of the best ways to build your credit." When you begin shopping for a home, it is advantageous to get guidance from an experienced mortgage lending professional, such as Sandy, to determine what you can afford and what you will be ultimately be qualified to borrow. People frequently get two things confused: "prequalified" vs. "preapproved" for a loan. When you prequalify, the mortgage lender does a basic credit check to see where you stand on the ability to repay a mortgage. You get an idea of where your credit score ranks, but this does not certify to third parties that you are actually ready to get approved for a mortgage loan. When you get pre-approved, a more extensive background check occurs that unveils your true ability to repay a mortgage loan. A letter can be issued to show realtors and sellers that you are ready to purchase, and the letter is good for six months. The lender will first pull your credit scores from the trifecta of credit reporting companies (Transunion, Equifax, and Experian) to obtain your average credit score based upon the information the three companies provide. These credit agencies pick up on any recent delinquencies (within the past 24 months) you may have experienced in paying your bills. Note that older delinquencies don't affect your credit score in the same way that recent ones in the past two years do. Also interestingly, the credit agencies don't report on utility payments, and more recently, don't report on deliquencies in medical bill payments. The lender also obtains your W-2's for the past two years, conducts asset verifications (your bank statements and reserve savings). If you are thinking about opening your own business after being an employee of a company, note that the lender will verify what you earned the past two years while being self-employed, so opening your own company may delay your ability to be pre-approved or pre-qualified for a mortgage loan. When you are looking to qualify for a home mortgage loan, lenders look at three major categories of information: First, lenders work up your "debt to income analysis" by looking at your gross monthly income (before taxes) and your current debt commitments (car loans, revolving credit, etc.) so that you can come up with a projected mortgage payment that will cover the cost of owning a home in your price range. Sandy says that 43% debt to income ratio is what you want to achieve, i.e., when you total up your current debt, and include your projected mortgage payment, your debt should be just 43% of your gross income. If you have a high credit score, this percentage may be adjusted a bit, but it is a good frame of reference. Sandy also recommends that if you know you are looking to be approved for a home ...

Ken Simeral, a prominent figure in the real estate community in Acadiana, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss his thoughts on investing in real estate when the numbers work in your favor, the importance of offering high-quality, targeted service to his clients, and his lifetime involvement in bettering our community. Ken is President-Elect of the REALTOR® Association of Acadiana (RAA). A devoted family man, he has been married to his wife, Deborah, since 1977 and they are the parents of two sons, Kyle and Jeffrey. Ken brings a seasoned voice to the industry: when he joined the former Lafayette Association of Realtors, there were 320 realtors; today there are more than 1850 members of the Realtor Association of Acadiana. Ken is owner of Magnolia Real Estate & Construction. He and his son, Kyle, operate Scott Quick Lube and Thermal Insulation Contractors. Ken, his wife, Deborah, and his sons own Simeral Properties, a company with multiple real estate holdings. And Ken enjoys the outdoors; he keeps horses and cattle on his 40-acre farm in Arnaudville where he and Deborah reside, and if you drop in, you may see him navigating his backhoe on the property. Pictured is La Maison Chatrian, a bed and breakfast home that Ken and Deborah Simeral offer to travelers visiting lovely Grand Coteau. Built circa 1835, the home sleeps 12 and is one of the oldest homes in Grand Coteau. Ken and Deborah spent seven years restoring the home. Restoration of historic properties is a passion of Ken's. Ken took his first real estate class in 1972, at a time when interest rates were 18%. By the early 80s, they had lowered a bit to 12%. With his decades of experience in residential and commercial real estate, Ken has witnessed firsthand the cyclical nature of real estate and interest rates, and he counsels homebuyers not to let the current interest rates be a controlling factor in their decision to buy. A 1969 high school graduate, Ken started college that fall. Unfortunately, his timing put him in the first draft lottery to determine military service since WWII in 1942. When he pulled #64 (based upon his birthday), he decided to enlist in the Air National Guard, and thereafter spent some time in Korea during the Vietnam War. Ken never returned to college studies, but began his lifelong journey of work, where he learned from others, benefitted from his own hard work, and the art of making smart investments. Always good with numbers, Ken bought his first home in 1972 on Garfield St. in Lafayette while in his early 20s. While managing an 18-unit apartment complex in Lafayette, he bought his second property in the McComb Veazey neighborhood, and then used equity from the first two homes to roll financing into three rentals. He soon married Deborah and started working with the Grand Paper Company, a national outfit where he was hired to be only the third salesman in the territory after 150 years in business. When he was offered a national rep position with the company, he realized he didn't want to be on the road each and every week; he wanted to be home with his family. Ken Simeral says, looking back on his rich life, "I was taught by older mentors. Everything I know I've learned from other people I could trust. The WWII generational ethics, how to do things right. Randolph Trappey was a mentor to me and I watched him build great houses. I just followed what he and others did." Ken ended up teaching the Realtor Code of Ethics ("Code of Conduct"), and served as the Chair of Professional Standards for Realtors. Ken looks back at this early period of his life with gratitude about what he learned from others. He also has advice for young homebuyers who are looking from guidance from seasoned real estate owners such as himself. "It has to be a good investment before you worry about pretty colors on the wall. Before buying, determine whether the cost of the house purchase plus the cost of repairs equals the value of the home when...

Holly and Eli Cure, owners of Antoni’s Italian Café, join Discover Lafayette as part of Eat Lafayette's yearlong celebration of locally owned restaurants. They share their captivating journey that had them working as employees of other restauranters before becoming dedicated proprietors of their own establishment. Holly is a Lafayette native who always enjoyed the dynamics of the restaurant environment, having worked at Posado's and Blue Dog Cafe before working at Antoni's. Eli grew up in Covington where he first worked at B. J.'s Pizza at 14 years of age, starting out as a dishwasher and moving up to pizza making. He moved around the country, settling in Lafayette in 1993, building his hospitality career while gaining invaluable experience working at such restaurants as Canton City Inn, Chinese Buffet, Charley G's, Prejeans, Don's Seafood, Coyote Blues, and Chili's. The couple met while working together at Blue Dog Cafe, where Eli was the manager and Holly worked as a hostess. The relationships they built while working at Blue Dog have remained strong, and friends from that time include Andrew Payne of Pamplona, and Danielle Fava, one of Antoni's managers. Antoni’s opened in 1996 and has been locally owned and operated since inception, celebrating its 28th year in business this month. Holly and Eli worked at Antoni’s before taking over the reins from its original owners, Bruce and Lynda Cart, on August 5, 2013. The Carts trusted Holly and Eli's knowledge of their business, its mission, and the dining preferences of Antoni's existing clientele. They generously facilitated the purchase of the restaurant with a ten-year owner-financing plan that the Carts paid off early. Even though the restaurant had been around for years, the Cures had to start the permitting process anew in order to keep the doors open. And the inevitable repairs needed to be done. With Eli's adeptness with carpentry and finishing work, the couple worked on Sundays to clean up and make the needed enhancements for their official opening. Holly says, "Each ceiling tile was taken down individually and we cleaned each and every one ourselves." "Opening a restaurant is a step by step process, where one thing can't happen before the other. First you set up your LLC, then you get the operating, Fire, Health, Alcohol permits. Each stage has different requirements. You have to ensure that all is working: 'Are all the exit sign batteries operational?' The Board of Health will inspect and require a level of cleanliness as if the restaurant kitchen had never been used before. Antoni's was 17 years old when we purchased it, but it was if it was a new endeavor as we worked to get the permits." Lynda Cart handed over all her original recipes to the Cures and long-time staple dishes such as the basil chicken salad and house-made pizzas have remained crowd favorites. Eli is the culinary expert in this family-owned endeavor and has created new recipes over the years and added twists to the traditional Antoni's fare. Holly shared that one of her favorite foods on the menu is the plain cheese pizza, which is based upon the original dough recipe from Lynda Cart, their house-made Marinara sauce, and the part-skim Buffalo milk mozzarella which is a staple at Antoni's. Cheese in the shakers is five-month aged sheep's milk Romano. With their loving, hands-on management and innovative twists to the original menu, Antoni’s is a popular destination for lovers of Italian food.  From classic pizzas and calzones to exquisite offerings like Quail, Salmon, Shrimp, and Filet Mignon, there is truly something for everyone. Holly and Eli both spoke of a surge in the restaurant's popularity, and attributed it to their dedicated staff, many of whom have worked at Antoni's for several years. In the aftermath of COVID's effects on the industry and changing expectation of workers, Holly and Eli have also endeavored to raise pay and be mor...

Eric Willese Wowoh of Change Agent Network joins Discover Lafayette to share his special bond with Lafayette, Louisiana and his mission to transform the entire nation of Liberia through improving educational outcomes. Eric is a humanitarian and social entrepreneur known for his efforts in education, community development, and social change, particularly in Liberia. He is the founder of Change Agent Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving education and providing opportunities for underprivileged communities. Eric's work has been instrumental in building schools, promoting educational programs, and fostering economic development in Liberia and other parts of Africa. His inspiring journey from a refugee to a change-maker has garnered recognition and support from various international organizations and individuals. A native of Liberia, West Africa, Eric grew up in a non-Christian home where African religion practices (Juju and Vodou) were followed. He lived alongside his seven siblings and his parents in a 15' x 20' hut with no running water or electricity; the kids slept on bamboo mats on a dirt floor. He never knew his birthdate as a midwife assisted his mother in his birth outside of a hospital setting, and as he says, "In Africa, birthdates were not important." Liberia ("Land of the Free") was established in 1822 as a home for freed African American slaves. Land was purchased by the American Colonization Society for the resettlement. It is a small country on the West coast of Africa and today approximately 5 million people inhabit it. The capitol is Monrovia, named after President James Monroe. For a short history on the country, see the PBS video below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg48G4qBdlo One meal a day was eaten in Eric's childhood, typically at 8 p.m., and centered on crops such as peppers, sweet potatoes, okra and rice. The kids would walk for 2 to 3 hours a day each way to tend their parents' farm. "We never knew about breakfast, lunch or dinner!" Eric's job, as early as 7 years old) was to hunt squirrels, ground hogs, deer and snakes for food, using a bow and arrow. His mom used lots of spicy pepper to get the kids to drink lots of water (gathered from a local creek) and stretch the food being offered. Supper was served late so that the children wouldn't awaken hungry during the night. Life was beautiful for Eric and his family, and he thought that was how the whole world was. He never thought about whether he would be a doctor or a lawyer, as he says that Liberians didn't dream about a profession; they just lived their lives simply without a formal education as we Americans know it. However, Eric's peaceful childhood was caught up in the ravages of Liberia's Civil War which began in 1989. He says, "At first, no one took it seriously. But they were wrong not to worry. In six months, the rebels took over the whole country of Liberia and there was no one in charge except for the young fighters. "We were under curfew from dusk to dawn or you would be killed. The rebels wore no uniforms so it was difficult to determine who would put you in danger." People began to starve as there were no rescue efforts and they couldn't tend their farms as they were told to stay home. Eric Wowoh's inspiring story of survival and overcoming years spent as an international refuge in exile may be read in more detail in his book, "Return of a Refugee", available for purchase on Amazon. Eric went on to create Change Agent Network, an international nonprofit dedicated to transforming Liberia through education. Eric's mom sent him off with friends on a two-day fishing trip. He was young and strong, and she thought he could survive. On the way home, he was captured and beaten by rebel fighters and told he needed to join the freedom fighters who would save the country. When he declined, he was declared an enemy and then tortured with electric cables, beaten, and left to die.

Our guests are Priscilla and Floyd LeBleu, Lafayette residents and owners of the world’s largest collection of artwork by the renowned Edna Hibel. Priscilla and Floyd are looking for a permanent home to publicly display their beloved Hibel collection, hopefully in Lafayette LA. Edna Hibel, an American artist, was revered for her paintings of people expressing emotion or contemplation, which were painted on ceramic, canvas, or etched on Bavarian limestone. She created over 6000 works during her lifetime, including 600 different lithographs. Born as a native of Massachusetts in 1917, she had a fulfilling career promoting peace through her exhibitions and artwork all around the world. Using her artistry, Hibel was able to raise money for charity across the globe. She passed away in her home at the age of 97 in December 2014, right before her 98th birthday. Her work was inspired by Mary Cassatt and Pierre-Auguste Renoir and sought by royalty, collected by museums, commissioned by the United Nations and National Archives, and awarded the Medal of Honor and Citation by Pope John Paul II. The World Cultural Council presented the 2001 Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts to Edna Hibel, who is often referred to as the USA’s most versatile artist, as well as its best colorist. The Award acknowledges those who endeavour to create different expressions of art and whose work constitutes a significant contribution to the artistic legacy of the world. Priscilla and Floyd became close friends with Ms. Hibel, after Priscilla won a trip to the Edna Hibel Museum of Art in Florida in 1992. She was accompanied by Floyd, who went along just expecting to hang out on the beach. While Floyd had never been a person that was bent to studying art, he immediately became enamored with Ms. Hibel and her captivating art, especially "Russian Mother and Two Children," an oil painting Ms. Hibel had painted in 1990. Floyd bought the piece, his first of some 500 Hibels, and was hooked thereafter. Floyd says, "It was almost like a religious experience when you met her. She captured me....the artist herself and her art. She captured people's dignity." The LeBleu family befriended Ms. Hibel and would visit her in Florida and she would travel to Lafayette to see them. Hibel enjoyed Lafayette and attended a benefit for the Acadiana Center for the Arts, and Floyd recalled her saying, "There is just a feeling of comraderie in Lafayette. I think this is my favorite place." While traveling on a Hibel Society cruise with Priscilla, Floyd asked Ms. Hibel why she never painted men. She replied, women wear pretty hats and dresses that give them a lot of color and flair and make them more interesting subjects." As a joke, Floyd dressed up in a straw hat and toga as he headed to a demonstration Hibel was giving. She laughed and told Floyd he would be the subject of her demonstration that day and she turned him into an Arabian prince in a painting aptly called, "Floyd in a Turban." The LeBleus became owners of a great deal of her works which had previously been displayed at the Hibel Museum of Art on the campus of Florida Atlantic University in Jupiter, Florida. " Floyd and Priscilla LeBleu own the Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville and have 127 pieces of Edna Hibel art displayed throughout for visitors to enjoy. They call it their "Hibel addiction" when describing their huge collection Lafayette is now home to the world's largest collection of Edna Hibel's artwork, some of which is on exhibit at Lafayette Consolidated Government's Building at 705 W. University Avenue for the remainder of 2024. Pictured above are Priscilla and Floyd LeBleu, in current times, and the original pose that Edna Hibel utilized to depict the LeBleu family in her own special way. Priscilla and Floyd are reaching out to our community, public officials, and art lovers in the quest to find a permanent home for Hibel's works so...

Tammy Theriot and Bryant DeLoach of Home Bank, Member FDIC, join Discover Lafayette to discuss how banks can assist business owners achieve their financial goals, along with treasury management solutions. Bryant Deloach serves Home Bank as a Senior Commercial Relationship Manager. He has lived in Lafayette his entire life, graduating from Lafayette High and USL, and raising his family here. Starting out 23 years ago in financial services Bryant has spent 12 years in commercial lending. Tammy Theriot started out with Home Bank in 1985 as the 28th employee of the bank when she was 21 (now there are over 400 employees) and has dedicated her entire professional career to the bank, starting out as a teller at the Oil Center branch, then moving into opening new accounts and handling IRA administrative services, and the Deposit side over the past twenty years, currently serving as Treasury Management Officer. "I've grown into that position." She joked that she's been married to her husband for the same length of time: 39 years! Both bankers stressed the importance of building a relationship with their clients. Bryant shared that "as a commercial relationship manager, our #1 priority is to provide service to our client. We have to understand their borrowing needs, if any. You meet a lot of great people and help businesses grow. You're involved in decision making, helping a client take their business to the next level. It's important for the client to be matched with a banker that understands their specific needs. At the end of the day, you want your client to feel comfortable with you." "It's important to know your customers and their needs. We can make the collection and payment of funds easier and more efficient," says Tammy Theriot. Her role in Treasury Management starts on the front end of the banking relationship, putting systems in place to optimize financial management and planning. Managing payables through Direct Deposit and ACH payments, handling receivables via Remote Deposit Capture, optimizing liquidity via account management services for optimal cash positions and maximal returns, and safeguarding against fraud and risk by employing tools such as Positive Pay and account monitoring, are all services offered by Home Bank. With check fraud running rampant, Positive Pay is an important risk-management tool to consider for your business. How does it work? The client submits a daily file to the bank that includes details about each check issued, such as the check number, date, payee, and amount. When a check is presented for payment, the bank compares the details of the presented check against the check file provided by the client. If the check details match what is in the file, the bank processes the check for payment. If it doesn't, the bank will flag the check and notify the company to determine if the check will be approved or rejected. Originally chartered as a savings and loan association known as Home Building and Loan in 1908, Home Bank is the oldest financial institution chartered in Lafayette Parish. Home Bank has experienced incredible growth over the years, currently having assets of $3.34 billion dollars, and locations across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.   Bryant DeLoach assists business owners get working capital needed to fuel their business. Small businesses and startups can apply for a Home Bank loan guaranteed by the U. S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) 7(a) loan program. The 7(a) loan can be used for various purposes, including Working capital, equipment, real estate, refinancing existing debt, expansion or renovation, starting a new business, or inventory purchases. He also advices his clients to ask for advice from their banker to avoid exposure to unnecessary loss. "Customers don't always realize the importance of getting advice from the bank. An example given was one client who had provided debit cards to all employees; the safer route was to issue credit ca...

Edie Couvillon Aymond, Executive Director of 232-HELP, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss her organization's mission "to help those in crisis return to being healthy and productive members of the community and to empower and strengthen individuals and families by connecting those in need with community and social services that address their needs." Edie joined 232-HELP on June 5, 2024, bringing rich experience and the ability to make community connections from her five years working on behalf of Maddie's Footprints, a nonprofit dedicated to helping families cope with miscarriages, stillbirths, or the loss of an infant. It was through her prior experience with Maddie's Footprints that Edie realized that while our area has many nonprofits organized to help people in need, most of us don't know who they are or what they do. "I attended every nonprofit meeting in the sector helping young families. If I hadn't attended, I wouldn't have known what they did, what services they provided." When Edie was contacted by a recruiter looking to hire her to run 232-HELP, she was intrigued by the scope of the help the organization provided and also realized that she was not fully aware that they still existed as she remembered. "I remember seeing Marie Placer on television pitching for them when I was younger. I was excited to be able to help more people in Acadiana." Pictured above is Edie Couvillon Aymond, in June 2024. Photo by Alena Maschke of the Acadiana Advocate. Since 1965, 232-HELP has assisted more than 10 million people and has had an estimated economic impact of more than $170 million throughout Acadiana, and reaches over 800,000 people in ten South Louisiana parishes. With over 1400 nonprofits in 232-HELP's database, the organization's service areas range from Terrebonne to Acadia to Avoyelles parishes. Headquartered in Lafayette LA at 1005 Jefferson St. across from Keller's Bakery, Edie oversees a staff of twelve. Her team operates 24/7, rendering aid to those who walk in during daytime hours and who call in at all hours. Accommodating persons of all backgrounds, there is a bilingual staff member who can help people who don't speak English. Many don't realize the scope of services offered by this small, yet dedicated staff. Many of those in need will call 211 before they reach out to 911 or other resources, not wanting to get law enforcement involved in their troubles or have sirens coming to their house announcing a problem. Everyone is offered assistance, from those suffering from elder abuse, domestic violence, suicidal thoughts, or needing help with utilities, housing, or transportation. 232-HELP averages 1400 phone calls per month on average, but has exceeded 12,000 calls per month during crises such as hurricanes or COVID. Edie credits the "dedicated, solid staff for stepping up at all times to handle the situation, no matter how difficult." And for the record, 211 works nationwide; you can call it from anywhere, even from your car, and the operator will route you to the nearest organization available to offer relief. 232-HELP was the first organization in Louisiana to offer a statewide call-in number for those in need. A national call-in number, you can call it from anywhere in the U. S. and you will be routed to the nearest available resource, even from your car. Jewell Lowe's life was devoted to charity, leadership, influence, and advocacy, improving the lives of the people of Acadiana. In 1965 Jewell, her husband Bob Lowe, and other community leaders, founded the Southwest Louisiana Education and Referral Center (SLERC) – now 232-HELP. Jewell served as Executive Director of 232-HELP for over 40 years. Each year, 232-HELP selects a humanitarian who exemplifies the example that Jewell set for service and generosity. Outstanding leaders such as Richard Zuschlag, Dr. Mary Neiheisel, Bo and Jerry Ramsay, Richard D'Aquin, and many more pillars of our community have been selected. ...

Jason Redmon, proprietor of the iconic Hub City Diner at 1412 S. College Road in Lafayette, joins Discover Lafayette to celebrate Hub City Diner's longevity and popularity, as well as his support of Lafayette Travel and Eat Lafayette, a yearlong celebration of Lafayette’s locally owned restaurants. Hub City Diner's ambiance is akin to the famous tv show, "Cheers," where everyone knows your name. It is a real '"Hub" of activity in Lafayette, where locals meet, greet, and share their lives while enjoying their favorite comfort foods. The diner was established originally as Stansbury’s Café in 1965, in the early days of the Oil Center, the commercial neighborhood that surrounds Hub City Diner. Thereafter, Lafayette restaurateur Charlie Goodson, Chef Pat Mould and advertising executive and local foodie George Graham, opened Hub City Diner in the space. Their intial concept was a 1950s diner, but with more of a Louisiana twist. Jimmy Guidry, who has years of food and bar experience throughout Lafayette, purchased the restaurant in 1998. Jason is 46 years old and has worked at Hub City Diner for more than half of his life. This is only the 4th job he has held in his life. A Bunkie native, his first job was working for his uncle on his sweet potato farm in Evergreen where he "caught the skips," making sure that the sweet potato roots were properly placed in the ground. Jason recalls his uncle saying to him, "You hot boy? You got to get hot with it!!" Jason still thinks about the lessons he learned from his uncle about having true grit and has maintained that strong work ethic to this day. "You've got to have grit and push through to get to the other side." Jason worked at McDonald's and Subway in Bunkie before he moved to Lafayette in the late 1998 to study Hospitality Managment at USL. His boss at Bunkie's Subway, Al Mahfouz, encouraged him to call upon the Hub City Diner manager at the time, Danny Fontenot, who hired Jason to serve as host and waiter. Jason first met Jimmy Guidry a few months after he started working at Hub City Diner, and the two became fast friends and colleagues. "People think that Jimmy Guidry and I are father and son. We have a synergistic relationship. We're not related by blood, but I guess we are now related through all of our time together. He's been a tremendous mentor and I'm very fortunate to have him in my life. I've been blessed with two dads. Jimmy told me, "If there is anything you've learned from me, I hope it is to be generous," Jason Redmon shared. And Jason did learn from Jimmy, still putting community first when he is asked to support local causes. He asks before he gives, "Will this help our community?" On January 1, 2022, Jason Redmon, Hub City Diner’s longtime manager, took over ownership from Jimmy Guidry. The ambiance in the diner remains the same, with vinyl booths and chairs, checkered floors, nostalgic photos on the wall, and even a ceramic Pelican that’s dressed like Elvis. Hub City Diner offers All-American comfort food, where there is something on the menu for everyone; people of all ages enjoy the diner's fare, from tiny tots enjoying meals offered in paper containers resembling classic cars to adults enjoying Mimosa's for $5 anytime of day. There is truly something for everyone who walks in and is greeted kindly. Meatloaf, salads, and eggs rule the offerings, while there are also specials on weekends which include smoked salmon, avocado toast, and fried green tomato spinach florentine meals. The hamburger steak is the most popular item on the menu. The feeling of community at Hub City Diner is palpable, as its staff cordially welcomes first-time visitors along with long-time regulars who frequent the diner after church in the early morning hours each weekday or who are always seen sitting in their favorite booth each weekend. With a staff that experiences very little turnover,

Discover Lafayette's sound engineer, Jason Sikora, has a voice many of you are familiar with, as he’s participated in our interviews over the past seven years, ensuring a finely-tuned, professional podcast. Jason Sikora pictured with Butch Roussel during a recording of Discover Lafayette Podcast. But many of you may not know his interesting back story, or how he came to live and work in Lafayette LA. A native of Detroit, Michigan and graduate of the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, Jason has a rich collection of memories to share and insights into how rock concerts are orchestrated. Jason's dad worked for Ford Motor Company in Detroit, but when Jason and his two brothers were young, the family moved to Hartland, Michigan to be able to escape the city life and its accompanying declining socio-economic factors in the 1980s. Describing Hartland as "basically a truck stop," it was much more. Jason graduated from Hartland High School, playing drums in its marching band and eventually serving as the Hartland Eagles' mascot. Sadly, Jason's younger brother, Kris, died when he was 11 years old, from a blood disorder. Kris' life and death had great meaning, however, as researchers were able to study his condition. Jason stated that today, people with Kris' condition would survive. Upon graduation from high school, Jason hightailed it to Hollywood, California to attend the Musicians Institute ("MI"), a college that was known as a 'player's school,' meaning that students were taught the skills to make a sustainable career in the music industry. While many young people could qualify to be a guitar tech based upon their self-taught abilities, Jason credited MI for a valuable education and teaching him guitar repair and cable management. " I started playing guitar in 6th grade, so I had six to seven years of experience with signal flow, how to solder microphones back together. I learned a lot in high school with my band, messing with pedals and guitars and amplifiers. I did learn guitar repair, cable management and how to get tone while in college at MI." Andy Brauer hired Jason right after graduation from MI, to work at his shop that specialized in instrument and musical gear rentals. Jason had the good fortune to work with Faith Hill in his very first gig, being hired to work at Skywalker Ranch to assist in recording track sessions. "I got to hang out with the best musicians in the world for a week: Mike Landau, Dean Parks, Paul Bushnell, and Vinnie Calaiuta are monster players!" Jason also got to witness the regular lives of performers such as Faith Hill, her husband, Tim McGraw, and their children, and realized how fortunate he was to be a part of this experience in the ordinary lives of superstars as the album was being cut. Jason then met Michael Lockwood, a guitarist who hired him to be a touring guitar tech for Aimee Mann, performing sound checks and restringing guitars, ensuring that all would go well during concerts. Jason would continue this type of work for several years, working with greats such as Lisa Marie Presley, Britney Spears, and the Goo Goo Dolls, as well as other acts during what he calls his 'lost years from 2004 to 2006', such as Hanson, Gerard McMahon, Puddle of Mudd, and the recording of "A Mighty Wind," an album accompanying a movie of the same name, featuring Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Jennifer Coolidge and many other staples of comedy culture of the time. "The work ethic is very different when you're on the road. You're not allowed to be sick. The show must go on. If there is a half million dollar guarantee and there are 10,000 people out there, your rig has to work. There was always a doctor out there with water, vitamins, and oxygen. You have to do the show. There's no back-up. No one else would know my rig," says Jason Sikora. Asked if he missed traveling on the road for months as a time as a guitar tech,

Rob Perillo has decades of experience in forecasting Acadiana’s weather and has tracked hundreds of tropical storms and hurricanes during his career. He celebrated 20 years at KATC this January and is one of the most beloved meteorologists in the country, particularly well-known for his expertise in covering hurricanes and severe weather events. Last year, Rob Perillo extended his contract with KATC for another five years. He's pictured here in November 2023 celebrating the occasion. Rob has enjoyed Lafayette since moving here 36 years ago when he was recruited by KLFY. Married with two children, he enjoys exercising every day for an hour, either riding his bike (on Lafayette's roads!) or swimming. His children are both artists and live in Lafayette; he expressed his joy in being able to be present while supporting Joe and Olivia in their endeavors. He has been with KATC since 2004. A native of New York, Rob Perillo became interested in thunderstorm activity as a young boy, four or five years old. His family had just moved out of the Bronx into the suburbs and a severe thunderstorm rolled through. He remembers how scary it was, but it triggered his interest in learning more about the weather. "Fear grew less, and curiosity grew more. By the time I was in third grade, I knew I wanted to be a meteorologist", says Rob. During that third grade year, Rob built a kite for a project and while he called the endeavor a 'big flop,' he wanted to know more about what creates the wind and how we can use it. He started buying weather books written for school-age children and they are still with him in the KATC weather room today. When he was in sixth grade, there was a snowstorm forecastedfor the Northeastern U. S. Meteorologists were projecting the snow would turn into rain, but Rob had a different feeling about it. He told his friends...."No, we'll just have snow. 1 1/2 feet." Well, the storm produced two feet of snow and school was cancelled for the rest of the week. Rob said, "I was the school hero when we returned to school on Monday." His intuition had been right on. Always interested in science, since his days of watching Jacques Cousteau on television, Rob earned a degree in Meteorology (with an emphasis on Math) from the State University of New York in Oswego in 1983. He selected that school not only for its meteorology program, but because it had the highest amount of snow in New York averaging 144 inches of snow per year. Rob began his career managing research at the State University of New York Research Foundation, while also serving as an Emergency Planning Meteorologist for several nuclear power plants in Upstate New York. He developed emergency procedures in case of nuclear leakage. He then moved to Houston and served as an Aviation Forecaster for Air Routing International, and a Marine and Industrial Meteorologist for Wilkens Weather Technologies, in Houston, Texas. Rob Perillo had never thought about television as a career but a friend at Wilkins Weather Technologies encouraged him to make a tape and apply for positions. A year later, in 1988, KLFY reached out to him. He had the opportunity to work with greats such as Maria Placer, Dick Faurot, and Jim Baronet. Rob joined KATC in 2004, when he was offered a fifteen-year contract, a feat unheard of in television circles. Becoming a tv meteorologist was a reach for Rob, as he was "confident in my forecasting skills, but a bit anxious about talking in front of other people. But you learn if you're a master of your information, it will be okay." One thing he did have to work on was conquering his New York accent to deliver the news in a way that was more readily accepted locally. Rob is passionate about meteorology and studies trends in climate and weather. About 16 to 17 years ago, he became aware that warming trends were coming upon us worldwide and he wanted to know how that impacted hurricanes.

Julie Rabalais, founder and Director of For the Birds of Acadiana, joins Discover Lafayette to share her love of birds and commitment to rehabilitating wild songbirds, waterbirds and waterfowl. For the Birds of Acadiana is Louisiana's only State and Federally permitted facility dedicated to the rehabilitation of federally protected songbirds, Waterfowl, and Waterbirds. Located in Lafayette, the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization cares for nearly 1,000 wild birds annually, working to ensure the eventual safe return of the birds to the wild. The organization also raises awareness and inspire others to join in safeguarding our precious avian species. The work is truly a labor of love for Julie Rabalais and the volunteers who assist her with transporting birds and keeping the facility clean. People who find injured wild birds can bring them in to For the Birds of Acadiana at no charge. For years, local fashionistas knew Julie as the proprietor of Jewelie's Boutique, located on Rena Drive. Educated as a graphic designer, Julie is creative and brings a touch of beauty to all the things she touches. When she sold the shop after 14 years in business, she wanted to do something that would keep her home where she could enjoy nature. First, she became a Master Gardener. She says "Then, I figured, why not do something that has a purpose and I can stay busy at the same time?" Hence the creation of For the Birds of Acadiana. "Birds have always been a love of mine, since my childhood days in Michigan. I've always enjoyed birds as a hobby. I'm just a bird lover, not trained in ornithology (the scientific study of birds), but I've always had a knack for caring for birds. But just because I'm a bird lover by no means made me qualified to do what I do today. A colleague in Youngsville who rehabilitates avian raptors, Letitia Labbie, took me under her wing in 2019 and mentored me. It took a great deal of time to learn nutrition, how to care for the wild birds, how often to feed them, how to triage, how to properly cage them. In order to even apply for a license, you have to have adequate shelter space that meets the requirements of the National Wildlife Federation." In order to become a certified avian rehabilatator, you have to mentor under another licensed rehabilitator and complete the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Rehabilitation Basic Skills Course, have a letter of support from a veterinarian, pass a facility inspection, and much more. Veterinarian partners prescribe needed medications for the birds being rehabilitated. Under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, it is illegal for individuals who are not certified to care for wild birds that they find, something most of us are not aware of. Julie says, "It is illegal to possess the birds, their nests, their eggs, or even breed them, because they are a federally protected species. Most people, when they see a little baby bird with its beak open, want to feed it and give it water. Unfortunately, that is not advisable. Julie says, "Water can kill a bird, as it can aspirate a stressed bird very easily. An injured bird can not metabolize food and liquids when it it stressed. Feeding is the last thing you want to do. We encourage people not to "Google" what to do as there is a plethora of misinformation online." If you find an injured wild bird, please call Julie Rabalais/For the Birds of Acadiana at (337)501-4523, and you will be asked to take a photo of the bird and send it in with a description of the bird's condition. This information will provide guidance to Julie as to whether or not the bird requires assistance or may be able to survive on its own. "I live For the Birds of Acadiana 24/7. Little did I realize how big a step it was going to be. I really thought it would be a part-time thing. But I go all in. There's no sense doing something halfway." For the Birds of Acadiana is a total non-profit endeavor, with no state or federal funding.

Frank Randol of Randol’s Restaurant in Breaux Bridge, joins Discover Lafayette in partnership with Eat Lafayette, a yearlong celebration of our locally owned restaurants, to share news of the revival of his unique Cajun restaurant and dancehall concept, a longtime staple in Lafayette. Breaux Bridge is only 15 minutes from Lafayette and is part of a corridor surrounding Lafayette Parish that is ripe for growth. And Frank is a young 78 years old, an Army veteran of the Vietnam War who still exudes energy and a passion for being a changemaker. Frank is a force of nature who works nonstop to promote the beauty of our local culture. Frank has been in the seafood business for 53 years, and is renowned for his contribution to sustaining and promoting our Cajun culture. As part of that dedication, Frank currently serves as Secretary of the Gulf Seafood Foundation and has always been an avid supporter of Eat Lafayette. He focuses on wild-caught seafood with no additives, only South Louisiana seafood, with a bent toward crawfish, softshell crab, and other seasonal specialties. Hamburger steak is also a popular dish craved by Randol's longtime patrons. His experience in the seafood business defines Frank Randol. In 1971, he opened a seafood processing facility in Henderson and operated it for nine years before opening the original Randol's Restaurant in 1980 when he moved operations to his family property on Kaliste Saloom Road. Over the years, he welcomed thousands of visitors from around the world to his restaurant and dancehall who were looking to experience authentic Cajun culture. To learn more about Frank's historic career, please listen to our original interview on Discover Lafayette here. In 2021, the owners of Superior Grill offered Frank a price for his Kaliste Saloom property that he couldn't refuse. The money afforded him the opportunity to take off two years to consider his future, and he kept his general manager, Jimmy LaGrange, employed alongside him as they contemplated their next move. "It takes two people to do nothing well for two years," Frank jokes. But in reality, Frank had not only wealth in money, but also wealth in ideas, creativity, love of Cajun food and culture, and a desire to continue in the restaurant business. "When you throw yourself into something for so many decades, you can't just go cold turkey. People need to embrace the Cajun Culture. It's already branded and known worldwide." Randol's menu is patterned after the former Randol's choices, repurposed and retested to ensure perfection for today's market. A mini-market for fresh seafood purchases is in the works and will be open soon. Today, the restaurant's success is Frank's main priority. Not one to stay retired, Frank envisioned a revival of his original Randol's concept, and purchased the land where the former Mulate's Restaurant was located at 325 W. Mills Avenue, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, resurrecting his successful Cajun food/Dance Hall concept enjoyed by people for so many decades. Frank says, "Mulate's was the perfect spot. It needed work, but it polished up well! The building is 80 years old on high ground and survived the storms in May of this year. We patterned the bathrooms after the high end facilities at Superior Grill, with glass walls that you can't see through, with 400 square feet of space." Many of acclaimed mural artist Robert Dafford's works are on the walls at Randol's, and Frank says "It's a historical setting where you can feel the spirit of our culture. It's alive." Frank Randol is just as passionate about sharing his love of Cajun food and culture as he when he took his “Cajun Fest” on the road across the U. S. so many years ago. The World’s Fair held in New Orleans in 1984 ignited an interest in all things Cajun and Frank Randol ensured that accurate information on its heritage was shared. Frank was glowingly written up by the Chicago Tribune on October 25, 1989,

Michael Soileau, Director of LUS Fiber, joins us to discuss his vision for the organization. A native of Mamou, Michael graduated from Mamou High, and then earned a degree in International Business from UT in Austin and an MBA from LSU - Shreveport. He took over the reins at LUS Fiber in May 2024. Before this appointment, Michael had worked exclusively in private enterprise. His past employers include Comcast NBCUniversal, specializing in the broadband and cable television business, as well as Toffler Associates, O3, Viya, Comcast Cable, AT&T Broadband, and Optel. He's a proven business leader in sales, business development, and strategic planning in the telecommunication and fiber-optic industry. Michael's first work experiences in broadband came about through his work with Optel. The company was first acquired by AT&T Broadband, which was then acquired by Comcast Corporation, making it the largest broadband and cable subscription business provider in the U. S. Then, Comcast purchased 49% ownership of NBC, and several years later bought the remaining ownership in the broadcast network. These mergers resulted in Michael moving into the entertainment and distribution side of the business. "I worked with Comcast NBC Universal for twenty years, in every operational role you can imagine....sales, marketing, finance, strategic planning on how to grow the business. With the Time Warner acquisition, affordabiIity came up. We started off offering programs for low-income households, and expanded it to sectors such as seniors, Veterans, students...different sectors of the community that can find broadband expensive. I learned so much." Advocate staff photo by Leslie Westbrook. Michael retired from Comcast and then dedicated his life to studies, earning an MBA from LSU. "I admit to being a lifelong learner. When I retired from Comcast, I went to school to get my Master's degree. I had considered working in academia as I had guest lectured at UT for a while. I earned the degree to gain the needed credibility to lecture on international business. But I was reinvigorated by school to get back into the 'business of the business.'" He then spent a year and a half as CEO of O3, a digital experience consultancy based in Philadelphia. At O3, he focused on digital customer experience, strategy, and innovation, bringing the organization a fresh set of eyes on how to position it to tap into new markets and create innovative solutions. Michael had maintained a residence in Lafayette in order to be close to his parents who still reside in Mamou. One day, his neighbor was visiting and they started talking about the open position at LUS Fiber. Rachel Godeaux, LCG's Chief Administrative Officer, met with him and Michael then met with Lafayette Mayor Monique Boulet, who inspired him with her vision for Lafayette and the role fiber could play in attracting companies and driving economic development. "Her overarching belief in the importance of transparency in government was compelling." He wasn't looking for a position, but couldn't say no. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYsXM71kDIw "I love the business of broadband. I've seen the power of broadband and what it does to change communities across the country, so I was excited about the opportunity to come back." Familiar with the history of LUS Fiber, having watched it from its inception back in 2005 when the citizens of Lafayette voted to make it a reality, he remembers having a conversation with the President of Comcast's cable division, saying at the time, "This is a model that will hurt us because it drives community engagement and loyalty with in the community." He further added during our interview, "Those are the values that we are all a part of by living here in Lafayette." "LUS Fiber has had 17 years of operations. We have the opportunity to rethink our marketing and ask what do we stand for, what is our brand, what is our promise to the community,

Peggy Feehan, Executive Director of CODOFIL (Council for the Development of French in Louisiana), an organization dedicated to promoting and preserving the French language and culture in Louisiana, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss the agency's mission and work. Born and raised in the New Brunswick province of Canada, Peggy grew up speaking French, enjoying the outdoors with deer and moose in her backyard. Fishing and hunting activities were prevalent, just like in Louisiana. While her region of Canada was predominantly Francophone, she learned English in school; some of her family spoke English, but it was not her first language. Peggy admits that she still thinks and dreams in French. And interestingly, she remembers watching American television and enjoying English-speaking shows such as Growing Pains and Family Ties which helped her in learning the English language. While Louisiana, and South Louisiana in particular, had many French-speaking citizens, the language was looked upon as uneducated and backward by some sectors of society. In 1921, a new Louisiana Constitution was adopted that mandated English as the official language of instruction in public schools. This effectively banned the use of French in classrooms. Many old-timers and their descendants clearly remember the shame felt when being ridiculed by teachers for using their native French language in school. The number of French-speaking people in Louisiana began to dwindle drastically as the decades passed. James "Jimmy" Domengeaux, a prominent Lafayette attorney and former U.S. Congressman, was instrumental in founding CODOFIL as a means to stop the loss of French-speaking Louisianians. CODOFIL was established in 1968 with the goal of preserving and promoting the French language and culture in the state. The council played a key role in advocating for French education and cultural programs, particularly in the Acadiana region of Louisiana. CODOFIL was empowered to “do any and all things necessary to accomplish the development, utilization, and preservation of the French language as found in Louisiana for the cultural, economic and touristic benefit of the state". Appointed by then Louisiana Governor John McKeithen, Domengeaux served as CODOFIL's first president from its creation until his death in 1988. Domengeaux was passionate about revitalizing French language education, and under his leadership, CODOFIL helped reintroduce French into Louisiana public schools. His work faced challenges, such as a lack of qualified teachers and resistance from some English-only advocates, but Domengeaux's efforts laid the foundation for a French cultural renaissance in the state. CODOFIL is an agency of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, under the direction of Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser. It is the only agency physically situated outside of Baton Rouge and is housed in the former Lafayette City Hall across the street from our Lafayette Parish Court House. COD)FIL has been housed there since the mid-1980s except for a period (2014 - 2019) when extensive renovations were undertaken. It is a bright, beautiful space which delights visitors and employees alike. The hiring of international French teachers began in 1972. The recruitees from France and Belgium were flown to Louisiana in chartered planes and landed in Baton Rouge where they were met by yellow school buses and driven to their respective parishes. Approximately 100 teachers would be hired each year. One teacher from Belgium was Phillippe Gustin, who moved here in 1974 from Belgium. He ended up staying and went on to lead the Lafayette International Center for 28 years, serving as an outstanding ambassador for Lafayette and Acadiana in promoting business and cultural opportunities. Peggy moved to Louisiana 25 years ago to teach French in the St. Martin school system for CODOFIL. At the time, CODOFIL advertised in Canada to recruit French teachers,

Seth Ransonet joins Discover Lafayette to discuss the third annual NOMAD Music Festival to be held on September 21, 2024 at Warehouse 535. NOMAD is a wholesome music event emphasizing family-friendly values and aiming to promote truth, goodness, and beauty through music. It's mission is to glorify God and inspire people to find their true home, spiritually and emotionally, through the power of music and community. The name "NOMAD" was selected because the event strives to inspire all wanderers to find their true home. A graduate of UL-Lafayette and a theology teacher at Teurlings Catholic High School, Seth Ransonet co-founded the NOMAD Music Festival with Jude Lecompte. The two were roommates when they attended a performance in Houston by Caamp, an American folk band from Ohio, which Seth calls a "top 10" band. They had so much fun it inspired them to start their own music festival here in Lafayette LA. Seth recalled Jude saying, "We need to start an event that's wholesome, family-friendly, and a nice hang out." The young men were 22 and 23 years old at the time of NOMAD's inception. The third annual NOMAD Music Festival will be held on September 21, 11:00 a.m to 9 p.m. at Warehouse 535 in Lafayette, and features a variety of local and visiting artists, providing them with a platform to grow and reach a wider audience. Working to create a vibrant community experience, the event kicks off with a Catholic mass which is open to the people of all faiths. Games for the kids will be provided and anyone who loves dancing is sure to enjoy NOMAD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eLZLYAhwms&t=64s The headliner band is Happy Landing, and NOMAD 2024 also includes artists such as Zach Edwards and the Medicine, Kaleb Oliver, Swampland Stringband, Amis Du Teche, Mia Montero, Crosby & Ellender, Gabe Parsons, and Eden. General admission tickets are $39.99 (with family discounts provided to families attending with their children) and food trucks will be onsite offering meals for purchase. Parking is available onsite. To find out more, visit https://www.nomadmusicfest.com/. Discover Lafayette would like to thank Seth Ransonet, as well as NOMAD co-founder Jude LeCompte, for endeavoring to bring wholesome family entertainment to Acadiana. Seth is now only 24 years old and has taken on not only full-time teaching at Teurlings Catholic High School, but learning entrepreneurship as a festival organizer trying to break even, if not make a profit. An eagle scout who grew up singing Irish folk songs around the campfire, Seth has always been a person of faith who wanted to serve his Catholic church. Best wishes on a successful 2024 NOMAD Music Festival!

Hollie Girouard, proprietor of Ton’s Drive-In and Ton's Downtown joins Discover Lafayette in partnership with Eat Lafayette to discuss her family's multigenerational success in the restaurant business. While Hollie is known for her dedication to Ton's, she is also well-known for her athletic prowess, having been a volleyball player for teams at ESA and UL - Lafayette, the latter of which she graduated from with a degree in Graphic Design. She is a third-generation proprietor of Ton's, following in the footsteps of her hardworking grandparents and parents. Hollie knows the restaurant business inside and out, having grown up in it and working from a young age, as soon as her grandmother gave her permission to clean tables and help out doing whatever was needed. Ton's in Broussard is beloved for its classic American and Cajun comfort food, including fried chicken, hamburgers, and regional favorites. Hollie's grandparents, Rosemary and Alton Girouard, originally opened Ton's in May of 1963. At that time, Rosemary left her job at a downtown Lafayette dress shop to run the restaurant full time. Alton stayed on working for the Lafayette Hardware Store (located then at the corner of Vermilion and Buchanan in downtown Lafayette) during the day, joining Rosemary in the evenings at the restaurant. Their children, Karl and Yvette Girouard, also worked at Ton's, and when Karl married Hollie's mom, Juanita, in 1973, she became an integral part of the family business. Rosemary and Alton Girouard. Hollie Girouard describes her grandmother as "a business woman. She was the heart and soul driving the restaurant. It was her dream." As Ton's attracted more business in the decade after its founding, the restaurant expanded in 1973 to a new location across the street in Broussard in what had originally been Bonin's Bar. Hollie shared that when her grandparents were remodeling the space to accommodate their new restaruant, they paid for the demolition work by giving the beautiful oak bar in Bonin's to the contractor as a payment for services. "The original oak bar is somewhere in New Orleans," says Hollie. The new Ton's restaurant was equipped with a drive-thru window, the first in Lafayette Parish, and also offered indoor dining and outdoor seating. Ton's has maintained many of its original menu items offered from its first day of operation. The chili, seasoning blend, and hamburgers which attracted avid fans still taste the same to someone visiting after forty years away. Hollie says the original pizza pans are now used as pot lids. And many of the employees' families have worked at Ton's over the years; Danielle, the general manager and head cook at the Broussard location, is a third generation employee as her grandmother, Edna, worked with Hollie's grandmother in the early days. Regina, Danielle's mother, worked with Hollie's mother, Juanita, in Ton's second generation of operations. Yvette, Alton, Rosemary, Juanita (holding Hollie) and Karl Girouard. Eat Lafayette honored Ton's Drive-In as it celebrated its 60th anniversary of successful business operations. Pictured are Hollie Girouard along with her parents, Karl and Juanita Girouard. Hollie calls herself "a glorified errand girl, running back and forth between the restaurants. I take my cues from the general managers!" Both restaurants source their food as local as possible, and Hollie says, "The crawfish are always being within 10 miles of the restaurant. We grow things in the garden." The top seller is the burger and plate lunches at the Broussard location have the same rotation each week as people expect the continuity. So on Tuesday, you can expect to see calf liver and onions as a plate lunch option, with the usual classic comfort foods offered each day. Catering is offered and Ton's provides food for sports tournaments, as well individuals looking for great comfort food. "Miss Laura," who has worked at Ton's since before Hollie was born,

Shelley Delahoussaye, Supervisor of the Lafayette Animal Shelter & Care Center, joins Discover Lafayette to share her passion and love of animals and how the animal shelter works to save as any animals as possible while searching for loving and safe environments for them. A graduate of UL - Lafayette, Shelley earned a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science. After working in private vet clinics, she was hired in 2017 by the Lafayette Animal Shelter as an Adoption, Foster, and Rescue Coordinator. One year later, she was promoted to Shelter Supervisor. She has always had a passion for animals. Prior to Shelley’s leadership, the save rate for dogs was 47% and cats a low 9%. In 2016 when former Mayor-President Joel Robideaux ran for office, he campaigned on the idea of NO-Kill 2020, an initiative to which he dedicated focus and support to make it happen. Through changes made under Shelley’s supervision, the shelter achieved a 90.3% save rate by 2020, and has maintained that rate ever since. Even with this success, there is still a continuing glut of stray animals in our community and the work of Lafayette Animal Shelter is critical. Pictured above is the beautiful Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Facility. Designed by Architects Beasley Moliere, the front entrance is separated into two wings: the surrender side and the adoption side. While Shelley originally questioned this decision, she quickly realized how important it is to keep the interactions separate. "The Surrender side is sad, with frantic owners looking for their pets. The Adoption side is happy, with people looking for a pet to love and care for." Prior to COVID, other states around the country would take many of our stray animals as there was a shortage of pets. Nationally, there is a trend of more responsible pet ownership and laws enforcing spay/neuter, as well as restrictions on breeders as to how many animals can be bred and how often, thus reducing the overpopulation. But now post-COVID, the shelters around the U. S. are also full and can't take our strays. "It's important to get to the root of the stray population, which is access to low-cost spay and neuter. Wild Cat SpayNation for dogs and cats is the only nonprofit low-cost spay/neuter provider that services all of Acadiana. They can only do so much. Many people want to do better by their pets but can't afford it. Please donate to them!" Lafayette Animal Shelter takes in approximately 5000 animals each year. And they get in not only dogs and cats, but potbellied pigs, goats, horses, cattle, bunnies and chickens. Shelley joked that recently her team nicknamed the facility "Old MacDonald's Farm" because of the variety of barnyard animals they took in. Luckily that week they found homes for 10 chickens, 3 potbellied pigs, 3 goats, and a horse! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34TI_obzQj8 Shelley Delahoussaye on how to prepare adequately for your pet's safety as a storm or hurricane approaches. Adopted animals are neutered, fully vaccinated and microchipped before you take them home. "It's a great deal," Shelley says, and "The animals receive about $600 worth of vet treatment before they go to their new home." Adoption fees are $35 for dogs and $25 for cats. Seniors and military vets can adopt at no charge. Any pets who have been at the Animal Shelter over 30 days can be adopted for free and when the shelter gets full, adoption fees are waived. "We want them in good homes without financial barriers." Thanks to BISSELL Pet Foundation and Cathy Bissell- all adoption fees are WAIVED until October 15, 2024. The ratio of cats and dogs in the shelter is approximately 50% each. About 800 of the 5000 animals who arrive annually are owner-surrendered each year. For some, the owner tried to rehome them with no success, and other owners find themselves in a situation where they have to get rid of the pet immediately and turn to the Shelter as a last resort.

Ochsner Lafayette General's Patrick Gandy and Marie Lukaszeski join Discover Lafayette to discuss the hospital system's careful growth and planned design to meet the needs of the region today and into the future. The only Level II Trauma Center in Southwest Louisiana, its services extend to patients "from the bayou to the border," stretching along I-10. Incredibly, the hospital system treats 255,000 unique patients per year. Patrick Gandy, a licensed CPA who has been with the organization for 31 years, began serving as President and CEO of in March 2021. He previously served in several senior management positions at Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center, Ochsner Lafayette General Surgical Hospital and Ochsner Lafayette General Imaging. His tenure as CEO began right after Lafayette General Health merged with Ochsner Health of New Orleans in September 2020, and he successfully led the hospital system through the trying times of the pandemic. A native of Shreveport, Patrick loves the community and says he has been "happily married to a girl from Arnaudville since 1998." Marie Lukaszeski, Director of Planning and Design, is an Arnaudville native who graduated in Interior Design at UL-Lafayette (formerly USL) in 1995. She is certified by the American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers ("AAHID"), the highest standard for the knowledge needed and experience required to address acute, ambulatory and residential care environments. After working with other industry professionals and a local architectural firm, Marie opened Interior Design Solutions in 2009 and became a consultant to Lafayette General. They began a series of expansions to meet the growing demands of the healthcare landscape, including expansions to its surgical platform and Emergency Department. Her service as Facilitator and Project Manager overseeing the projects was so successful that Patrick jokes, "We wanted her all the time!" So Marie and her team joined the healthcare system in 2015. Marie Lukaszeski is an artist at heart and in practice, and she brings that aesthetically pleasing touch to Ochsner Lafayette General's design concepts! "There was a study done with prisoners that showed that blues and greens were more calming to your physiology than reds and yellows. We tend to go with a soothing, neutral palate for our interiors. But most of my time goes into ensuring that our spaces are safe, help the staff interact easily, and function successfully. I work with third party vendors and a whole team of Security, IT, and FF & E (furniture, fixtures and equipment) people to make sure that vital equipment, patient beds, etc. to make sure that the building is being designed to meet our standards. We have to meet licensing standards mandated by the State of Louisiana." Ochsner Lafayette General has a rich history of significant contributions to our community's well-being. It began in 1911 as a 6-bed sanitarium and has grown into an 8-hospital health system, the regional hub for Ochsner, and a leader in healthcare. Patrick mentioned the health system's three core principles that define its mission: "First, we are always focused on patients first and then create our organization around their needs. Second, Transparency in everything we do is incredibly important as a philosophy for our organization. Third, We have to constantly evolve and assess how we can best adapt our business model to take care of our patients. " The first major milestone in Lafayette General's growth was in 2009 when it acquired St. Martin Hospital in Breaux Bridge. Patrick says "It was the first hospital outside of Lafayette. That was the beginning of us becoming a regional healthcare system in South Central Louisiana. That was a defining moment for us as well as rural healthcare in Acadiana. We want to invest in whatever a local community can support because local healthcare is the best healthcare." U.S. News & World Report named Ochsner Lafayette General Me...

Jill McGehee and Amy Broussard of Acadiana Vintage Finds join Discover Lafayette to discuss their inaugural marketplace event to be held October 25 - 27, 2024 at Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette. If you love consignment or thrift shopping, want to do your bit to purchase repurposed items to reduce waste production and conserve resources while supporting sustainable consumer habits, or just love the thrill of the hunt, Acadiana Vintage Finds' offerings will please your tastes. How did this event come about? About two years ago, Jill began mulling over the lack of access to a one-stop shop for unique accessories and vintage items that can be purchased by people on a budget or who want to purchase unique items that have vintage appeal. On the same note, thrift shopping is on the rise nationally and Lafayette has some catching up to do! The thrift store industry in the U.S. generates over $17 billion in revenue annually. A few statistics: The average thrift store item is sold for about 75% less than its original retail price.  56% of thrift store consumers are under the age of 35. 80% of thrift store revenue is reinvested into the local community. It is definitely a real industry to take seriously. With all that said, about a year ago Jill reached out to Amy, her close friend from their Comeaux High days here in Lafayette, to partner with her to pull off this event. The upside is that Acadiana Vintage Finds will offer our community plenty of shopping opportunities for the home and personal apparel, Christmas gifts, and so much more. Acadiana Vintage Finds will feature everything from vintage fashion to antique treasures, handmade wonders, and gourmet delights. Repurposed furniture and lamps, new baby clothes, and uniqe jewelry will be found. This type of shopping is such a delightful to find unique ways to upgrade your home and fashion while keeping within a budget. Whether you’re a vintage lover, treasure hunter, or just love discovering unique items, there’s something here for everyone! Patrons can purchase a 3-day parking pass for $13.00 or a one day pass on Sunday for $10.00 where you will find all the markdowns from merchandise for sale on the last day. Vendors will be offering clothing & accessories, furniture and home decor, photography and artwork, collectibles and memorabilia, and there will be food truck offering delicious eats! Visit here to purchase a parking pass. According to the Journal of Antiques and Collectibles, 2024 was poised to be a year where vintage and retro trends took center stage. From the resurgence of '90s nostalgia in fashion to the revival of retrocolor palettes in interior design, this year promised a celebration of the past. Designers are reimagining classic elements with fresh, playful styles, making Acadiana Vintage Finds the perfect destination for those seeking to embrace these trends. Blake Brodhead of Primary Artworks will be offering his unique designs. Banannie Bands, pictured above, will offer children's items at Acadiana Vintage Finds. When: October 25-27, 2024 Time: Friday & Saturday 10 AM- 4 PM; Sunday 10 AM- 3 PM Where: Blackham Coliseum, Lafayette, LA Cajun Cuisine will be joining the event as a food truck vendor at Acadiana Vintage Finds. For more information and to purchase a parking pass, visit https://www.acadianavintagefinds.com/.

Kevin Landry, proprietor of Café Lola, joins Discover Lafayette in special partnership with Eat Lafayette and Lafayette Travel. Eat Lafayette is a yearlong celebration of Lafayette's locally owned restaurants. Café Lola was opened at 1155 Coolidge in the Oil Center in April 2002 by Mark and Jill Balser. Their focus was on fresh, wholesome, colorful, and delicious ingredients sourced locally. They offered a simple menu that worked through repeated trial and error as they found out what the customers consistently liked. Kevin took over the helm of Café Lola in February 2021 and has intentionally kept things just the same, because it works.! Café Lola is open for lunch, 10:30 AM - 2 PM. They can seat about 60 patrons at any time and about 70% of customers are dine-in and pick up. Door Dash is a popular option. They have a steady clientele of pharmaceutical/medical/business customers who order for meetings; call or order online ahead one day for these items. This is a great gig for single moms who need to drop off their children for school in the morning and then pick them up after school. Kevin is proud of his staff and depends on them for their understanding of customers' needs as they order meals daily. "The menu is a guide but you can substitute anything to ge what you really want." He trusts the staff and stays out of their way. "Our food is fresh. We make our bread daily. My motto is, 'Fresh ingredients, fast service, and friendly faces. We are not fast food. Our menu is a guide but you can substitute anything." In the ensuring years since opening, the restaurant earned and maintained a popular reputation for its great lunch time menu selection of sandwiches, soups, and salads. Even today, you know you are always going to have plenty of delicious options for high-quality, fresh food with great service. And, the brownies are always a hit! While Kevin shares that prices on the menu went up recently against his instincts, it was done to meet the inflationary impact on the cost of fresh lettuce and other items. At one point, romaine lettuce soared in price from $29 to $80 per order. "We held on as long as we could to raise prices. It's bad that we are not the gas pump and have the flexibility to raise and lower prices quickly. We have no choice but to wait it out and adjust accordingly." Pictured above are Lynn and Kevin Landry. Fan favorites are the TLC Sandwich, composed of Turkey, Lettuce, Provolone cheese, sprouts, cucumber, tomatoes, and avocado, as well as the Shrimp wrap. "People like wraps," says Kevin. At a point early on during the pandemic, the original owners, the Balsers, were empty nesters and found themselves ready to retire and live at their vacation home right outside of Park City, Utah. Kevin took over the helm of Café Lola in February 2021 when he and his wife were looking to buy a sustainable business venture; the opportunity fell in his lap and was the right fit. He secured financing and used his business acumen to maintain what was already a successful business. Soups are a popular option. Pictured is Café Lola's Seafood bisque. Many people wait for the daily soup specials, which include Potato Soup on Wednesday, Broccoli and Cheese on Thursday, and Seafood Bisque on Fridays. " We enter the Eat Lafayette soup competition all the time and usually win. One time we came in second." Kevin hasn't changed a thing on the menu since he purchased the restaurant and shares how when he talked to customers and polled people about Café Lola, saying he couldn't "find a hole in the restaurant. Everything worked from an investment standpoint as well as the quality of food and service that Café Lola offered day in and day out." The only downside he found was that people might have forgotten the restaurant was there in the Oil Center. That could be fixed. One of Kevin's favorite meals is the Cobb Salad. He is an intermittent faster who eats around 10...

Dr. Shannon Bernard and Michelle Luquette, representatives of On Track by 5 Alliance for the Lafayette Parish Public School System, join Discover Lafayette to discuss their department’s mission to improve the quality and access of early care and education for children from birth to age 5 years of age. The research is clear: 90% of brain development occurs before age 5. Great work is being done to improve early childhood educational options for young people which is being funded through School Readiness Tax Credits and the generosity of Lafayette businesses. You can actually designate up to $5,000.00 of your state tax dollars that are owed each year to go to On Track by 5 Alliance, and then get a refundable tax credit of that same amount. How does this work? In January of 2008, Louisiana established a package of refundable state tax credits for businesses designed to support quality child care pursuant to LA R. S. 47:6107. A business is defined as any for-profit or not for-profit entity, which includes sole proprietors, partnerships, limited liability corporations, and corporations. Your CPA can help you file for this refund if you give them a heads up before filing your tax documents. See below for Michelle Luquette's contact information to ask questions on this detail. How to Claim the School Readiness Tax Credit for Businesses? To file the SRTC for businesses: a) Filing Individually: complete tax form IT-540; b) Filing as a corporation or franchise: complete tax form CIFT-620; c) Filing for non-profit organization: complete tax form CIFT - 620. These tax credits provide businesses with a dollar-for-dollar credit of up to $5000 for donations made to Child Care Resource and Referral agencies that are contracted by the Department of Education. On Track by 5 Alliance is such an agency and your contributions go directly to benefit children that live in Lafayette Parish. You can make this designation each and every year, get a tax refund, and know that your money is being dedicated to early childhood educational efforts for our must vulnerable and in-need young people. Pictures above were taken when Ochsner's Lafayette General adopted Campbell Academy Childcare Center. Ochsner's Lafayette General participates in the School Readiness Tax Credit as a non-profit, giving OTb5 $5000 contribution per entity in its health system and in return Ochsner's entities get their contribution back with the dollar-for-dollar refundable tax credit program. These dollars are invested directly into our publicly funded childcare centers and Campbell Academy was able to get a Frog Street Pre-K curriculum. OTb5's mission is to have all children in Lafayette Parish kindergarten ready! Paul Molbert said this is part of their "Healthy State" initiative as education is one of the key components of improving the healthcare status of our citizens. The School Readiness Tax Credit and ON TRACK programs here in Lafayette are so special because they serve learning centers and programs only in Lafayette Parish. Lafayette applied to be a Childcare Resource and Referral Agency just for Lafayette parish, so businesses know their dollars are staying in the parish and serving local centers when they designate . This tax credit not only boosts the economy by investing money back into the parish, but also ensures that children will become contributing members of society. In Lafayette Parish there are 58 publicly funded centers (meaning they accept childcare tax dollar assistance) and over 100 centers total which service over 6,000 children. Some publicly funded centers include Gifted Early Learning Center, Little Blessings, Little Miracles, and LA 4 (a public pre-school). In a typical school day, children are learning through play, such as dramatic play, sensory play, and manipulatives. Manipulatives are tools like string beads for counting and puzzles which develop the child’s fine motor skills.

Our guests today are Mia and Rob Sandberg, husband and wife, and a dynamic duo of entrepreneurship! Mia is the proprietor of Root Floral on Jefferson Street in Downtown Lafayette, 810 Jefferson Street. The shop is open Tuesday – Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. unless an event taking place.. Her company specializes in providing floral arrangements for events, weddings, and everyday flowers.  They offer a subscription service where you can sign up to give periodical gifts of flowers to that special someone. Open for walk-in arrangements, Root Floral's stock varies from day to day, so Mia advises people to order online or call ahead if they can. Big events like weddings can affect the in-store supply so it’s best to place an order well in advance. Rob is the proprietor of Lucia, a bakery that offers not only delicious pastries but baked goods that offer a feast for the eyes! One look at their website will have you running to Lucia, located at 607 Kaliste Saloom Road. Lucia started out as a small batch, from-scratch bakery that began doing popups in our downtown area in late 2020, selling brioche-stuffed donuts (bombolonis) and then slowly began adding laminated pastries to the rotational menu. Lucia now concentrates on viennoise-style baking, a form of pastry made famous in France with origins in Vienna. Mia proudly shares the expansion of her online event collections, which now includes 21 color palettes to choose from. This is a great option for a bride who just needs basic items or those who don’t want to go through the whole process of meeting. These collections can be used for bridal showers, baby showers, Christmas parties, or any special occasion. It’s also a great way for clients on a budget to order flower arrangements. For clients worried about costs, Mia says that Root Floral will work with clients on a budget to help them achieve a beautiful arrangement for their special day. She explains that for pricing, they “price everything out by the stem” and “use a system called curate”. This is helpful for adjusting the number and types of flowers based on a client’s budget. Mia graduated from the UL-Lafayette with a degree in interior design in 2008. She is passionate about color, texture and proportions, which she says helps her now in making her floral arrangements. After graduating, she took various jobs in product design and interior design in Dallas, Texas. She also was a waitress as Toulouse, the same restaurant Rob worked as a pastry chef. When the couple moved back to Lafayette in 2012, Rob was the one who suggested she open a flower shop. So, she began creating and sharing her creations inside of a small portable storage building at her parent's house in Cecilia. For a year she says she was “sending arrangements to as many businesses as I could”, like Carpe Diem or Kiki, to promote her work. She attributes good photography, Facebook, and her unique arrangements for her success. In the beginning she says, “there was lots of spray paint”. Within a year, she outgrew that location and moved to downtown Lafayette. Now she continues to provide beautiful flowers for events across Lafayette. It is an understatement to say that her company began to flourish; Root Floral has even been written up in Martha Stewart Living! Lucía, a boulangerie and viennoiserie located at 607 Kaliste Saloom Road near St. Pius was opened by Rob Sandberg in 2021. He began in the bakery business by doing popups and later selling pastries at the Moncus Park farmer’s market where his brother Ruben Sandberg came on board. Lucía sold out each Saturday for about 2 years before Lucia opened on Kaliste Saloom. Rob says in the early days, he and Mia converted their sunroom into a bakery where their were frying donuts and making custards. Pastries and floral bouquets showcased at Lucia Mother's Day weekend 2024. A wonderful partnership between Mia and Rob Sandberg. ...

Becky Collins and Jennifer Joseph, volunteers with the Bayou Teche Museum in New Iberia, join Discover Lafayette to discuss the museum's inaugural fundraising musical event, Music On Main, taking place November 21, 2024. Located at the Bayou Teche Trading Company, Music on Main will be filled with food, music, and fun! The two bands performing are The Eighties Experience, an 80’s and 90’s tribute band, and 5th Avenue, playing R&B, country, and zydeco music. Co-chair member Jennifer Joseph says, “we’re also going to be combining music with laughter” and Jerrod Guillory, a local comedian, will certainly bring laughs to the event. Music On Main is a casual event that takes place both indoors and outdoors so Jennifer says “come as you want," but get there early because there is a capacity limit. The first band starts at 7pm; doors open at 6pm. Attendees can park in Bouligny Plaza or across from the Bayou Teche Trading Company. Admission is $60 per person, and tickets can be purchased on their website, their Facebook page, or at the door at the event. The museum is also asking for sponsors to donate to the fundraiser in one of 3 tiers: The Bronze level at $250 will receive 2 complimentary tickets, Silver at $500 will receive 4 tickets, and Gold at $1000 will receive 8 tickets. All proceeds will go towards expansion of the museum, namely the “Doc” Voorhies wing, and improvements to the exhibits. When there isn’t a fun-filled music event, the Bayou Teche Museum is open from 10-4 on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. There is an admission fee, but Veteran's tickets are free so Becky and Jennifer urge Veterans to check out the museum. The Bayou Teche Museum at 131 E. Main Street, opened in 2010, and displays historic exhibits and art from New Iberia and the surrounding areas. Becky Collins states the museum’s mission: “Our mission is simple: Education, preservation, and engagement”. It reflects the excitement of New Iberia as well as the rich history of the towns along the Bayou Teche. As proof of her love New Iberia, Becky tells us, “I could live anywhere in the United States…we choose to live there because it is such an exciting place”. The museum serves as a bridge to bring the community together, and with a diverse board of directors, they are open to any suggestions to improve the museum. Going with their mission of engaging with the community, the museum wants to include members from pre-school as well as those from nursing homes and assisted living. The museum is hoping to add more interactive exhibits with the funds from the music event. When you step into the museum, there is a timeline that starts all the way back to 10000 BC where it traces the earliest Native Americans through New Iberia. It also includes artifacts and pottery from 400 AD connected to the Atakapa tribe. The timeline ends in 2013 as the museum was opening. There are several interesting artifacts thanks to the generous donations from the community. The Exhibit Acquisition Committee is in charge of going through these donations and determining if they have a purpose and fit the meaning of the museum. Some special exhibits include stories from Beyonce and Solange Knowles, who have connections to New Iberia, as part of their music area, and the painting that George Rodrigue was working on when he died. Becky Collins also tells us about her favorite exhibit, the Salt Mine. In this part of the museum, guests can step into an elevator and “it simulates what it would be like to ride down to the bottom of the salt mine”. It involves a fully immersive experience, including a lever that triggers a dynamite explosion. Exciting and interesting exhibits such as these are possible through generous donations from the community, so they urge those interested to join them on November 21st for Music On Main. For more information, reach out to bayoutechemuseum@gmail.com.

Our guests today are Jeff Martin and Blake Adams, creators and proprietors of Short and Fat, a unique custom men’s clothing line. While there are plenty of options out there for plus sizes, big and tall, and regular, there just aren’t traditionally that many for, well, someone who may be short and fat. Short and Fat originated in 2017 as Jeff and Blake’s response to a lack of clothing options for men who are “short and fat”. Their online store focuses on a subscription-based service for men’scustom shirts with hundreds of choices for customers. Shirts can be ordered on their website,https://shortandfat.com/ and have a one-month turnaround. Customers are shown nine videos which demonstrate the correct way to measure yourself and Short and Fat takes these measurements to make a perfectly tailored shirt! There are nine different cuffs and collars to choose from, as well as a choice of pocket, button color, button stitching, and shirt fabric. Jeff Martin tells us they are “custom built shirts for custom built men” which will givetheir customers confidence in their appearance. https://youtu.be/OsNeqgrmFME They have found five pain points for men’s dress shirts: collars, shoulder seams, sleeve length, shirt length, and something they call the “belly wink”. Blake describes it as the moment where someone’s shirt is too tight, and the buttonhole opens and “winks” at you. Short and Fat addresses these pain points with the 3 important variables to feeling more confident: fit, fabric, and fashion. They want the shirts to fit well, with over 1200 fabrics to choose from while also adding the fashion aspect with small details like buttons. The custom shirts, manufactured in Bangkok and shipped directly to Short and Fat, are allwrinkle free, aside from the linen, and customers don’t have to tuck in their shirt if they don’twant to. The average Short and Fat customer stays with the business for a long time, because once theshirt fits perfectly, the measurements and customizations are saved. The subscription serviceallows customers to receive custom shirts they know will fit well on a quarterly basis. Blake Adams has a “no bullshirt guarantee” that if a shirt doesn’t fit perfectly, they’ll retry until they get it right. Blake’s customer service is one reason why the business made it through the pandemicafter production shut down. He kept customers up to date and made sure they received the shirts they were owed once production picked up again. Blake also uses a one-on-one approach with customers for their custom blazers and suits. Suits and blazers cannot be ordered on their website yet, but Blake will assist customers in creating the perfect suit through email. He helps with fabric, accent color, and gives advice to first time customers when creating their suit or blazer. The idea for the business began when Jeff Martin was shopping in the “big and tall” section ofthe men’s department store. He had trouble getting a shirt to fit his neck and said, “I’m not bigand tall, I’m short and fat”. Later, he met Blake at a Catholic retreat where they shared theirsimilar struggles with men’s shirts. Blake was on board immediately, the two entrepreneurslaunched a Kickstarter campaign, and Short and Fat was born as a way to help men who are "vertically challenged and horizontally blessed." Now they say that they are a startup with eight years of experience since COVID shut them down for nine months. Short and Fat is a passion project for Jeff Martin and Blake Adams, and Jeff says, “we know ourcustomer; we are our customer”. This passion is apparent from their dedication to making clothes that men want to wear and that fit them. https://youtu.be/RXvS7JQSLZA Learn more at https://shortandfat.com/. Their hilarious and informative videoscan be found on their YouTube channel, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok which are all@shortandfat.

The Acadiana Center for the Arts' Sam Oliver, Executive director, and Taylor Davis, Board President, join Discover Lafayette to discuss the AcA's 50th anniversary approaching, the superb programming they offer our community, and discuss upcoming events. The Acadiana Arts Council, the organization that later evolved into the Acadiana Center for the Arts (AcA), was established in 1975. It began as a regional arts organization focused on promoting and supporting the arts throughout Acadiana. Over the years, the Council expanded its vision and programming, eventually leading to the creation of the AcA as its permanent home on November 1, 2010. The AcA, at its core, is the Arts Council for the region, that offers Lafayette and the Acadiana region something you would expect in a larger metropolitan area: incredible performances from all over the world, high production quality shows, and the promotion of local and regional artists. It is a space for visual arts, performing arts, music, dance, and theatre. It is also a gathering place for social events, debates and forums for political occasions, and civic presentations that benefit the entire community. Sam has served as Executive Director for six years. You can hear our original interview with Sam here where we discussed his educational background and what led him to serve the AcA. Taylor has served on the board the past ten years and was first exposed to the AcA at its first show ever which brought Lyle Lovett to Lafayette. Taylor says his service is "a labor of love," and he and his wife, Yvette regularly go out to see and enjoy live music. The James Devin Moncus Theater offers a superb sound system that was upgraded this year, with a seating capacity of 304 seats, "and there is really not a bad seat in the house!"  It's a great time to join or renew your AcA membership as you receive early bird access to tickets for 2025's in-demand performances before they open for sale to the general public. Yearly memberships begin at $35 a year with higher levels for those who want to support the organization at a higher level. The AcA’s 2025's Louisiana Crossroads series will showcase performers such as Steve Khan, Louis Michot, and C.J. Chenier celebrating the 100th birthday of Clifton Chenier. Scott Mulvahill, a Nashville based singer, songwriter and bass player, will be leading a full album length playthrough of Paul Simon's Graceland album, which featured Acadiana artists with Zydeco and accordion music. George Porter Jr. will round out the year. January 2025 will be kicked off with a two-night concert “The Roots of Fire Live,” bringing local Cajun and Creole together live on stage to perform, Other big name acts will include Lucinda Williams, Andrew Duhon, Ruthie Foster, and Kat Higgins, Several perks are being offered to enhance your AcA experience. Parking is always a challenge downtown, so the AcA is introducing free parking with a ticket at the parking lot across from Chase Tower on Jefferson Street. If you're planning dinner and drinks after a show, the AcA has partnered with downtown restaurants such as Vestal and Pop’s Poboys who are doing pre-show discounts on meals. The Aca has also partnered with restaurants such as Pamplona and Ton’s Downtown who will stay open later on show nights to offer post-show cocktails, In order to ensure a lineup of performances which pleases its patrons, the AcA put out a survey asking for the types of acts desired by the community.  Putting together a 50th anniversary season “had to be not just good, but something that our audience and our supporters really resonate with. We actually put out a survey where we said to members of ACA, tell us what you want to see”, Sam Oliver said. In honor of the upcoming 50th anniversary of AcA, on December 7, 2024, the Pelican Ball will honor five people who have made an impact over the course of its existence. One of the founders of the Acadiana Center for the Arts,

In this episode of Discover Lafayette, we feature Mel Haynes, owner and proprietor of Sweet Envie, a delightful bakery and deli located at 4302 Moss Street in North Lafayette. Mel brings a beautiful sense of joy and humor into our world and shares her inspirational story of becoming a successful business owner who follows her instincts. Since opening in 2021, Sweet Envie has become beloved for its heavenly pastries, confections, and a menu that caters to both sweet and savory cravings. Mel’s journey is one of passion, resilience, and community, as she found and followed her calling after a career in corporate management. A graduate of the Accelerate Northside Program, Mel transitioned from her management role at Acadian Companies to entrepreneurship, fulfilling a dream that began as a conversation with her late husband as to what her future would hold. Inspired by her mother’s talent for baking and informed by her mom's recipes, Mel honed her craft, from decorating wedding cakes to mastering the art of petit fours. "Eventually I want to get to the point where I'm not working in my business as much. If my seven year old Samuel has an event at school. I don't have to ask anybody if I can go. I don't have to say, mother, may I? I'm going. so that's freedom. That feels so good that I can just say, you know what? The kids have something going on. I'm one of those moms that’s involved. If the teacher calls me, I'll be there in a second. I'm going to make sure that it's wonderful. Whatever I need to do for my kids. They are my first priority because if it weren't for them, I don't know where I'd be. I'd probably still be working another job, but being able to wake up and go to work and show my daughter, my 12 year old daughter. You know what? If you decide one day you want to run your business, you can run your own business." Today, Sweet Envie offers not only baked goods but also a retail baking supply store and catering services, bringing smiles to clients throughout Acadiana. Sweet Envie won accolades in 2024 for Gold Best Deli, Bronze Best Bakery, and Silver Best Dessert in the Acadiana Advocate's Acadiana's Choice Awards. Highlights from the Conversation: The Spark: Mel shares how her passion for baking was ignited while creating her "huge castle" wedding cake with her mother and later through baking for coworkers. Leap of Faith: Following the loss of her husband and with a newborn on the way, Mel took a chance on herself, joining the Accelerator Northside program to gain the tools needed to launch Sweet Envie. Challenges & Joys of Entrepreneurship: Mel discusses the highs and lows of running a business—from the freedom to attend her children’s events to the challenges of wearing all hats, including maintenance and accounting. Community Impact: Sweet Envie provides a welcoming space where families and children can explore their own creativity. Whether decorating cakes or learning how to fry beignets, Mel inspires future generations. Catering Services: Sweet Envie offers both savory and sweet catering options for groups ranging from 5 to 300 people, with onsite food truck services provided by Mel’s fiancé, "Big Nick." Sweet Envie Favorites: Signature cinnamon rolls Chicken salad Petit fours Fried-to-order beignets Mel credits her faith, compassion, and authenticity as the foundation of her success. She encourages listeners to embrace their dreams and let go of imposter syndrome, reminding us all that we are capable of achieving greatness. As Mel says, "You have to get out of your own way. That is a big thing that a lot of people suffer from. That imposter syndrome where you don't think that you're good enough to run your own business. You know, I saw X, Y, and Z do it. How can I do it? I'm not half as good, half as smart, half as talented. When in fact, you are just as good, just as smart, just as talented.

Adam Daigle, Business Editor of the Acadiana Advocate, discusses the biggest business news of 2024 in this episode of Discover Lafayette. We want to thank the Advocate for highlighting our latest podcast each week in their online Business Section. You can subscribe online at theadvocate.com/newsletters to keep up with our community’s latest business headlines. The # 1 story in 2024, without a doubt, is the announcement that Buc'ees will be opening at the northeast corner of Louisiana Avenue and Interstate 10. Rumored for years, this will be a major draw for motorists traveling along I-10, and most of the sales taxes paid will be collected from out-of-towners. When people travel, Buc-ees is a destination as well as a place to fill up the tank. The new site is projected to be a 74,000-square-foot building, complete with gas pumps and nearly 700 parking spaces, and the store is estimated to be a 13-month build, opening during the 2025 holiday season. The closest Buc-ees to Lafayette is either Alabama or Baytown, TX, so Lafayette can anticipate a heavily-trafficked spot for people looking for that golden Buc-ees' experience. I talked to a convenience store analyst, and he said, "Buc'ees takes everything you hate about traveling, removes it, and replaces it with what you love about traveling. You want to stop there because you'll never wait in line for a gas pump. You want to go there because you know the bathroom is clean. You want to go there because they've got unique snacks and not Cheetos that every other place has. You get a brisket sandwich or a hot dog with the gas station. They've just flipped the whole concept on its head." There's a Tax-Increment Financing ("TIF") district already in place that dates back to when Stirling Properties originally built the Target Shopping Center across I-10 from where Buc-ees will be located. At the time, there was no water or sewer lines and the project was only feasible with this type of government assistance to cover the massive infrastructure needs. The TIF was paid off quicker than anticipated and is still in play today. To accommodate the Buc-ee's deal, a subdistrict was created, which will tax 2% of all sales, including gasoline purchases. While some question the need for TIF districts, this is a trend that has been taking place all across the U. S., and it is a negotiating tool that jurisdictions utilize to attract big business such as Buc-ees, Bass Pro, and other large retailers. As Adam says, "That is what you do to land the big boys. You got to pay for it." The # 2 story is the passing of Richard Zuschlag, Chairman and CEO of Acadian Companies. When he started his business in the early 70s with Roland Dugas and Richard Sturlese, funeral homes were dispatched to pick up people who were ill, and they were transported in a hearse. This was the era prior to ambulances and the trio identified a huge gap in the healthcare market. Zuschlag was the driving force in the company's growth, and he was also literally a driver of an ambulance in the early days. He attended all of the police jury and city council meetings to meet with people and get agreements signed. Acadian Ambulance would hold membership drives that ran on television, where people paid a fee to ensure that an ambulance would pick them up. Over the years, Zuschlag became the principal behind Acadian and the company experience extraordinary growth, opening up it National EMS Academy, Acadian Total Security, Air Med, Safety Management Systems, Executive Aircraft Charter Service, and Acadian Health (home healthcare services.) The late Richard Zuschlag, who founded Acadian Ambulance and served as Chairman and CEO of Acadian Companies. Today, Acadian Companies is an employee-owned company with 5200 employees in four states. Zuschlag's memory lives on through his family, and his son, Blaise, serves as Executive V. P. and Chief Administrative Officer.

Matt Oldenburg, Director of Zoosiana, is our guest today. The zoo has been a family passion for years, as it was originally purchased by Matt's father, George Oldenburg, in 2002, after a successful banking career. George transitioned into zoo ownership to pursue his love for animals. Over the years, Matt took on a leadership role, managing the zoo's operations and its expansive collection of over 1,000 animals spanning 150 species.​ Never dreaming he would run the zoo, Matt majored in wildlife biology, as well as marketing and management. While his schooling came in handy, running a zoo is a field of study that you learn on the job. Matt Oldenburg at Zoosiana. Zoosiana, one of the few privately owned and accredited zoos in the U.S., is known for its education and memory-making opportunities, community engagement, and family-friendly attractions. It features animal shows, a petting zoo, a Louisiana swamp exhibit, and unique animals like golden-striped Bengal tigers, giraffes, exotic birds, and much, much more. Incredibly, the zoo welcmes over 150,000 visitors annually.​ Zoosiana is open 9 to 5 daily, seven days a week, weather permitting, except for major holidays and hurricanes. The zoo will be 33 years old in 2025, and getting to that stage where it can become a legacy for our local families and visitors alike. Matt says, "The children who have visited Zoosiana through the years bring their own children and maybe their grandchildren, and make lasting memories. Perhaps taking a family photo by the same live oak tree that they took a photo in front of 20 or 30 years earlier. I think that's a very special attribute. It adds to our efforts to connect the community with the zoo. Ownership has never been front of mind for us. We believe that we are the stewards of the zoo and of the animals on behalf of Acadiana's children. Everything we do there is for the children, to be an education-based program and make an opportunity to create a lifelong memory of connecting you with an animal on some level." Zoosiana is located at 5601 Hwy 90 E Broussard, LA 70518, on a 45-acre piece of property in Broussard at the corner of Ambassador Caffery and Highway 90. It is privately owned and self-sustaining and with no outside funding coming into the zoo.  "There was no life plan to land at the zoo. We never had unusual pets growing up, just a dog and a cat. But, I was excited about the zoo from day one with dad. Not every day has been fun or easy. But I think very quickly I realized that if I could pick one thing in life, I would probably pick what I am doing at the zoo." The zoo is busiest in the springtime and in the comfortable October season. "With a thousand animals to care for each day, no two days are alike," says Matt. "We go through quite a bit of food and, and we order our produce, fruits and veggies from the same vendors that restaurants and cafeterias here in Lafayette order from. Its not second choice. So it's fresh produce and fresh vegetables of of a quality that you would be happy to have on your own dinner plate." Matt further stated, "We've got an animal care team who do a phenomenal job of providing the daily care and maintenance, which include feeding, cleaning, health checks, and monitoring. Enrichment is a very big part of what we do. We want to make sure our animals have a stimulating environment that they're able to utilize and practice their natural behaviors. It could be leaping from one perch to the next or figuring out a puzzle feeder of some kind. We do enrichment with smells, olfactory sound, and visual." Zoosiana has particular meal plans for their various animals, and a recipe book for the different meals that lists everything that the animals can have and cannot have. With so many different omnivores, herbivores, and carnivores, you can imagine the varying diets from species to species. Matt says, "It's thousands of pounds of food a week. We've got dry grain.

Paul Hilliard, President of Badger Oil Corporation, has led a wonderful life of generosity and love of community that provides a humbling lesson in being a good steward of God’s resources. At 99 years of age, he is sharp and insightful, a true testament to his wisdom and vitality. Paul was 17 when he enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps during his Senior year in high school in February 1943, quitting school when he received permission from his mother to join the war effort. He trained to be a gunner, handling machine guns in the back of Douglas SBD Dauntless (Scout Bomber by Douglas Aircraft) planes in air missions conducted in the Pacific Theatre of Operations. SBD was jokingly referred to as “Slow But Deadly.” He flew 45 combat missions and was twice awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in addition to receiving the Air Medal with six bronze stars.  Following his service, Hilliard earned his law degree from the University of Texas before beginning a career in the oil and gas industry. He credits the GI Bill for the opportunities it afforded him and so many other servicemen who would not have otherwise been able to obtain an education. Hilliard exemplifies the selfless spirit and pride of our WWII generation of heroes, as well as the successful ingenuity of a veteran oil and gas entrepreneur.  Known for his self-effacing wit and ability to achieve in spite of a hardscrabble upbringing in Wisconsin, Hilliard has been a successful independent operator and owner of Badger Oil Corporation since 1955 and has seen fit to use his success in business to help others in need. Awarded the Civic Cup in 2003 and the esteemed national Horatio Alger Award in 2009, Paul has also been active in statewide associations working to improve the oil and gas industry, business, and civic endeavors. Paul has also been active in statewide associations working to improve the oil and gas industry, business, and civic endeavors.  In 2015, he received the Circle of Honor Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. UL Press released Dauntless: Paul Hilliard in WWII and a Transformed America in 2023. Written by Rob Citino with Ken Stickney and Lori Ochsner, the book documents some of the most fascinating decades in American history: the impact of World War II, the importance of post-war social and economic changes, and the development of the oil industry from the 1950s to today. “Dauntless is a compelling narrative tracing Paul Hilliard’s life experiences during the Great Depression, from farm life in Wisconsin’s Dust Bowl to his distinguished service as a Marine in World War II, his education through law school, and a long and successful business in the oil fields. Paul’s lifelong philanthropy and his passion for education and the lessons of WWII make him an inspiration. His life is the Horatio Alger story. He is, and always be, one of my heroes.”—Boysie Bollinger Paul has been a generous benefactor in causes to help at-risk children learn to read so that they can overcome poverty as he did.  He and his late wife, Lulu, provided $5 million dollars in seed money to start the Paul and Lulu Hilliard Art Museum at UL – Lafayette. Paul has served as a National WWII Museum trustee, and he and his wife, Madlyn, have been two of the Museum’s most active advocates and supporters. They have provided transformative support for several Museum initiatives, including acquisition and restoration of artifacts, collection of oral histories, and education programs. In September 2018, Hilliard accepted the position of Board Chair of the museum, focusing on the completion of the its $400 million campus expansion. For more information, visit https://www.nationalww2museum.org, a treasure trove of thousands of oral histories and hundreds of thousands of photos depicting the WWII experience. Paul ended the interview by sharing his gratitude for being born in the United States of America.  He spoke of a favorite quote by Cicero: “Gratitude...

Ari Dolegowski, a BioPerformance Therapist who offers transformative massage sessions with a tailored approach rooted in Physical Therapy and Eastern medicine, joins Discover Lafayette to share his philosophy on living a well-rounded and healthy life. He studied both Eastern and Western modalities of therapy in Thailand, Costa Rica, and New York City, to form an integrative approach to treatment and to better understand human nature. Ari played pro soccer in Chile, Tel Aviv and the U. S. and maintains a consistently active lifestyle, biking whenever he can in lieu of starting up a car. He also maintains a Tai Chi practice which ensures full body power and optimal alignment. Tai Chi is a moving meditation in the form of a series of gentle exercises that create harmony between the mind and body. The ultimate purpose is to cultivate our inner life energy (qi) to flow smoothly and powerfully through the body, a spiritual experience as much as a physical one. Ari will be offering classes in Tai Chi this year. Ari's work focuses on optimizing the body's natural abilities, through physical therapy and massage treatments to encourage clients to achieve peak physical and mental states. One thing many of us fail to do is stretch enough and he offers "Stretched Out," a modality of massage with a lineage of Thai Massage, TaiChi, Yoga Therapy, and Western joint mobilization. "Imagine having a stretch, a trigger point release, and increased blood flow all at one time," Ari says. His practice also includes cranio-sacral massage, a gentle yet effective way to ease tension and promote relaxation, and can help relieve headaches, reduce stress and improve overall well-being. Local athletes call on Ari for deep tissue massage sessions to treat musculoskeletal issues such as sprains and sports injuries; this form of massage helps break up scar tissue that forms following an injury and reduces tension in muscle and tissue. Ari offers consistent messaging on lifestyle, health, and wellness. "It all starts with us, our choices, our movement, and our intention to live a good life. Bio means life and performance considers honest personal health choices that can revolutionize your own path to developing awareness of the body and in the mind in order to lead an overall healthier and happier lifestyle." Ari's background working for an Eastern-Western physical therapy clinic gave him a way to look at the body in different ways than the Western lifestyle. "Environmental issues, not just lead in the water but anything outside that we bring in on ourselves, whether it's family or the news or politics, is a culmination of everything that we do. Then one thing can trigger pain, whether it is an unfortunate bike accident, being yelled at, a TV show that upsets you or the news....all of a sudden you have sharp pain in your neck and you don't know why. People look for one thing to blame, and just want to fix it. Is it acupuncture? Meditation? A cortisone shot or a chiropractor? It might need to be all, depending on how tightly wound up you are or your physical and emotional pain." At times, Ari works with people who may have unrealistic goals who have pushed themselves too far and incur an injury, taking on physical exercise that their body is not ready for. "The body just says 'whoa.' You know, if you're just looking to be healthy, maybe you need to go out and walk really fast a few times a week, rather than taking on running when you have never exercised. Because that's really hard on the body." "You should be able to do your job and then offset it with what you do when you're not working. If you sit all day, you should be in good enough shape that you can sit, stand, maybe go for a walk, do a quick stretch and not worry about that too much. 'Am I sitting ergonomically? Is my desk high enough?' I think it's what you do outside of your job or your career that helps with that. Perhaps you just have a simple 20 minute a day or every ...

Lafayette City Marshal Reggie Thomas joined Discover Lafayette to discuss his mission to protect the citizens of Lafayette and to become the best marshal's office nationally. A 30-year veteran of the Lafayette City Police Department who worked his way up the ranks, as a detective and eventually serving as deputy and interim chief of police, Marshal Reggie was elected Lafayette City Marshal in December 2020. On January 8th, 2025, he celebrated his fourth anniversary in office. Of note, Marshal Reggie was the first African American to be elected citywide in the history of Lafayette. The Marshal's office is chiefly responsible for keeping the city court safe and secure, serving subpoenas to people called to court, and executing arrest warrants for people who have not complied with the law or court order. In the City of Lafayette, there are two city court judges, Judge Douglas J. Saloom and interim Judge Vanessa Harris, who was called to served upon the untimely death of Judge Jules Edwards. Salary and benefits for the marshal's office staff are paid for by the City of Lafayette. Everything else is funded by a percentage of criminal and civil fines and fees paid for citations and tickets. The employees are at-will employees. "We have 32 sworn officers, as well as ten reserve officers. We have another 30 to 35 clerks that work in the building, handling the court, the tickets, the civil part,the criminal part, and the supervisors. We might have 400 people come through the door on any given day, and each person has to be searched to make sure everyone is safe." The City Court territorial jurisdiction extends over all territory in the corporate limits of the City of Lafayette, plus the Third and Tenth Wards of Lafayette Parish. The court handles claims for personal injury, general damages, contract, open account, and commercial paper where the amount of the claim doesn't exceed $35,000, and small claims suits that do not exceed $5,000. It also handles landlord-tenant matters (Evictions) and violations of state misdemeanor criminal laws and/or Lafayette Consolidated Government City Ordinance violations that occur within the City of Lafayette. First time domestic violence cases also go through City Court. Marshal Reggie mentioned the important work of the late Judge Jules Edwards, who endeavored to assist first time offenders, to keep them from getting in deeper trouble and ending up in Angola. When Marshal Reggie was elected, they started the "Renewal Program", where participants learn to manage anger, control their behavior, and become better citizens. Upon completing the program, their efforts are recognized, and they have the opportunity to move forward with a clean slate by having their offense expunged from their record. "The renewal program was something that I started when I first took office, along with Judge Edwards. When a first time offender gets sentenced by the judge, normally they have to do community service. With this program, they attend eight weeks of classes and we have people that have made major mistakes come in and talk to them. Maybe a guy that did 25 years in jail or was on drugs, stuff like that. So we show them things that, hey, this is where you don't want to be at, but this is what you can accomplish if you're doing the right thing." Seventy juveniles have participated so far with great success. "Most schools have zero tolerance. Now, if you get in a fight at school, you go to jail. Some of us older people remember when we were in school, you would have to go sit in a corner after a fight, but you didn't go to jail. So now, you are arrested, you have to come to court and pay fines. I started seeing where the parents weren't able to pay the fines, and the kids would wind up in juvenile detention. So the Renewal Program gives a second chance and the charge won't remain on their permanent record. The kids have to be serious about the program, can't miss any days,

Becca Begnaud, actor, musician, creative, and traiteur joined Discover Lafayette alongside John Paul (JP) Summers, Abbeville-based director and cinematographer, to discuss their collaboration on the 2025 Doritos Crash Commercial, which ranked in the top 25 out of 2000 entries. Together, they share their stories of creativity, healing, and cultural preservation. It is a story about synchronicity in life, healing, and maintaining a sense of humor. Becca Begnaud has dedicated her life to preserving and practicing Cajun healing traditions. Growing up in Scott, LA, Becca had an idyllic life, close with her extended family. Her grandparents had a farm and every weekend, her family would go to the country, ride horses, and her grandma would cook dinner. “My house faced the side of the church and the back of the house faced the school. You could walk to the grocery store and post office, you could walk everywhere. When you talk about maintaining a culture, you have to look at what community historically looked like.” She grew up speaking English and French.   She learned the value of healing from her grandfather who was a traiteur.” “We didn’t even think of it as healing. Because if you had warts, or a headache or a sprained ankle, you went to see a particular traiteur. You could be rich, you could be poor, black, white or native. None of that mattered. If someone had given you the prayer, you did that.”' Becca Begnaud pictured with her grandfather, Maurice Pellessier. Picture from Facebook. Becca says, "Every culture has within it a community of people who do healing work. So when we got together here in Acadiana with the Native Americans and the African Americans, and then us, the French Europeans, this method of healing developed in our region. It is basically prayer." As a backdrop, Becca was diagnosed in 1989 with breast cancer and had a mastectomy. One of the nuns at the hospital, Sister Hilda Mallet, told her she should look into healing work. "I thought, are you serious? Well, my grandpa was a traiteur. Maybe I should look into this. I studied Rieki, healing work, awakenings, and something called Trauma First Aid. There are lots of methods of healing out there. I did hospice work for 30 years, and worked with Lourdes at Camp Bluebird, a camp for adults with cancer. I have the perspective of a person who was ill. I have the perspective of a person who worked with a medical team, all as a volunteer." Today, Becca continues her healing practice at her office at 600 St. Landry Street in Lafayette, Louisiana. Becca embraced her role as a healer, never doing it as a way to earn a living, just as a volunteer. "When you have a catastrophic illness, you don't have extra money to drop on treatments of any kind. You hope to pay the deductible of 20%. So, when I studied with nurses, we were talking about Source. If you are teaching in a professional educational setting, you can't talk about what you call God. There may be Jewish or Native American people, Christian or Hindu. So, we talked about Source. We were all saying the same thing but in a different way." After many synchronistic experiences, Becca had a professor at the university, Frans Amelinckx, give her the prayer of a traiteur, Mr. Nestor Guidry. It said, ""Je suis parent and je suis parenté, " which means we are related, we are related. You repeat it three times. And it is beautiful. Native Americans always speak of all our relations. We're all one. We are. So that was a light bulb moment for me." When asked if you had to believe for a traiteur's prayer to work, Becca said, "Traiteurs treat cows, pigs, horses and other animals that need healing. What does a cow or a pig know about beliefs or church? Then I thought if my grandfather could do this healing work, why not me?" A musician to this day, Becca came up in a family of drummers and she played the drums. "When you play rhythm and you don't really think, then who you are comes out.

Molly Rowe, newly appointed Executive director of the Hilliard Art Museum, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss her love of the arts and working with artists. Molly has worked with arts and culture organizations such as the New York City Ballet and Savannah College of Art and Design, and Fortune 500 companies such as Google and The New York Times. Born and raised in Lafayette, Molly's mother was an antique dealer; from an very early age, Molly was exposed to art, antiques, antiques, provenance, and the research that goes into collecting and telling stories about objects. She grew up appreciating art and objects, learning about other cultures and people. At the age of 18, after graduating from the Episcopal School of Acadiana and ready to see the world, she left Lafayette at 18 to attend Cornell University where she earned Bachelor's degrees in History and French literature. Molly then earned an MBA in Strategic Management from Tulane, and completed graduate work in Art History at Sorbonne University and Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. Molly's first job was writing for the President and Co-Founder of the Savannah College of Art and Design, Paula Wallace. "It's an institution that started with a dream of one woman who was an educator and now it is globally recognized. It is one of, if not the, largest private art institution in the world. It is a mission driven arts organization, and I learned so much about how it was run, how to build organizations of that nature, how to inspire people through that." The experiences Molly gained help define her career. "Whenever I started working with Paula Wallace, I envisioned myself to be a writer who was going to go on and do doctorate work in literature. I was very always interested in languages and storytelling. But through my work with her at SCAD, I realized that art has it own language and communicates things that words can't. Through studying art and learning about art and exhibiting art, working with artists, you're able to transcend time, cultures, and geography.” Molly shared, "We so often think that being able to create an art object or a painting defines creativity. But some of the most creative people I know are creative in business. I've built my career on working with artists and supporting artists and building businesses with them." After her work at SCAD, she moved to New York and was employed by consultants who worked with arts organizations, museums, institutions, and galleries based all over the world. She eventually opened her own consulting firm with that same focus, at the intersection of arts, education and business,. Molly worked with over 50 institutions internationally, from the United States to Europe, South America, and Asia. Molly says, "It's that work that allowed me to consult with incredible organizations such as Google, New York City Ballet, and The New York Times. My work with them was always focused around art and culture. I think so many businesses recognize the power of art and culture; in order to get a product into the hands of people, they have to tap into how their desired audience communicates, what they like, what they read, what they listen to." Molly explained, "Being able to tap into an audience's culture means you're going to be working with artists. It means you're going to be working with the people that are creating and building that culture. That's where I came in, as this sort of middle person, who would help organizations figure out how they were going to bring their product to people. It was always around working with artists. The other side of that was not only making sure it was good for business, but also that it was good for rhe artists. If we look at Louisiana, one of our biggest economies is cultural tourism. We don't think enough about who is benefiting from that. My job was always making sure that artists were represented appropriately and that were being compensated and rewarded in the right way.

Ryan Pécot, proprietor of Adopted Dog Brewing, is a successful commercial realtor with Sterling Properties as well as a force in changing the food and entertainment landscape in Lafayette. Adopted Dog Brewing offers a family friendly place to bring your kids and your dogs. Located at 329 Dulles Drive, it celebrated its second anniversary on February 1, 2025. A public celebration will be held on February 22 , 2025, where The Good Dudes will be playing. "They're at the brew house right now brewing a beer with my brew master called the Good Brew 2, a Mexican cerveza with lime that we will release on our birthday party weekend," Ryan says. Ironically, Ryan didn't drink beer much in his college days. And he recounted that when he and his younger brother would travel to sporting events, his brother would always sample local craft beers, while Ryan would choose generic alcoholic beverages. "Ultimately I got jealous of him. And being jealous of your younger brother is not that cool. I realized he was getting more out of our trips than I was because he was getting a local flair whereas I was just getting the regular thing. I made a New Year's resolution to learn how to drink beer. And on January 1st, I drank a beer and it was awful. And I drank another one. I couldn't figure it out. I just didn't like it. And then I got to a spot where I did. On one of those trips, I said if I ever learn how to drink beer and if I ever open a brewery, this is some of the things I'd like to do. Our flagship beer, which is aptly named 337, is a Blueberry Blonde inspired by a place called Boston BeerWorks across from Fenway Park. We walked in there and saw a bunch of ladies drinking beer, which was not normal. They all had blueberries in their beer. How are all these chicks drinking beer? Like, what is going on? And then I realized, that if I ever open a brewery, I'm going to offer a blueberry lager, because clearly this works." A few years back, Ryan wasn't planning to open a brewery, but was inspired to open Adopted Dog by synchronistic events. One day, he and a friend were driving around the industrial area near Dulles Drive looking for a site to store their UL tailgating trailer and assorted gear, while waiting to have a B. F. Goodrich tire changed on Ryan's truck. They happened to pass by 329 Dulles, the site of the former Cafe 329 which was owned and developed by Peter Martin. "We went through that cul de sac by SLCC. I didn't even know that road existed. We came across the real estate, and I asked my buddy James to pull in, and I peered through the windows and I'm like, it's awesome. I'm opening a brewery. James said 'What?' I said I'm opening a brewery here. I'm telling you, as a real estate guy, when you see it, you know it. If I was going to open a brewery in Lafayette, this is the physical spot. You're five minutes to everything, but you're kind of in a donut hole of nothing else offering all that land. You sit there and you feel like you're not in Lafayette for an hour." "I look for the little things. As soon as I saw the building, I realized that the patio on the back deck faced the southeast. That means you're going to get shaded the quickest in our hot, long summers. If we were going to ever eventually build a deck and a stage that would be positioned correctly, the wind cut through the way the heat felt. The building with the high ceilings has pros and cons, but generally, it worked and checked all the boxes." The site is also located in mid-city Lafayette, which was important to Ryan in his quest to develop establishments in the heart of our city, just as he has enjoyed when traveling across the country and getting to know the heart of local communities. While the land and building were perfect, opening a brewing company in Lafayette was a challenge. Ryan says, "Without my background as a commercial broker, I'm not sure I would have been successful in opening Adopted Dog Brewing.

Billi Lacombe, Executive Director of Faith House since 2002, joins Discover Lafayette to talk about her life mission to help survivors of domestic violence become safe. Leaving an abusive situation is never easy due to various barriers such as financial insecurity, lack of support systems, fear of losing children, and concerns over personal safety. Faith House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Lafayette, serving seven parishes in Acadiana, which provides free services to women and children who need help in getting out of a domestic violence situation. Its main source of funding (75%) is through federal grants ( Office on Violence Against Women, the Department of Health and HUD), .and the organization relies upon volunteer services to keep its mission going. Faith House's mission is to provide safety, shelter, empowerment and advocacy to survivors of domestic violence. It offers confidential and safe resources to those most in need. As a young women, Billi studied to be a paralegal and was contacted in 1998 by a former classmate who asked her to work at Faith House. She had always had an interest in women's rights after seeing women in her life experiencing extreme hardships and the opportunity seemed appropriate for her. Billi went to work at Faith House as a legal advocate helping survivors, getting protective orders for them, and she says, “That was it for me. I saw nothing else that I would want to do with my life other than continue to help survivors of domestic violence become safe. That became my life's mission.” And for the record, during our interview, we saw the calming energy Billi brings to the table that is a gift from God. Faith House addresses the challenges women face wherever they are, taking care of their family and trying to earn a livable income for themselves and their family. Many people don't see the barriers that still exist for women. Billi says, "It is about justice for me. I just want to see justice, equality, and equity happening more for women so that they can exist in this world. Not having to stay with an abusive partner and to be able to live and support your children. You should not have to be abused just to be able to pay your bills. I mean that that's what these survivors are facing." Many domestic violence victims and their families need emergency shelter. Faith House offers a safe refuge for those in the highest levels of danger who have experienced severe cases of domestic violence with a high potential for lethality. Billi says, "It is very typical for a family to walk in, a mom with a couple of kids, with absolutely nothing. Sometimes they don't have shoes on their feet, they're in their nightclothes and haven't eaten for 2 or 3 days, and are starving when they walk in the door. The shelter offers anything you could imagine that you would need if you left your home with nothing. Toothpaste. Shampoo. A sandwich, some water. Clothing. Everything that you could imagine." Glenn Armentor has been generous in supporting Faith House through underwriting television ads which highlight Faith House and its mission to help domestic violence victims. Since this advertising campaign started six years ago, Faith House has had thousands of people call their hotline and say they heard the commercial and reached out for help. They would not have otherwise known there was a place to go for assistance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdgKE3-D6dU Many survivors worry about their children when considering leaving. Losing custody due to financial instability is a significant concern. Abusers often use threats of taking children as a means of control. The fear of homelessness and the inability to provide a stable environment keeps many in dangerous situations. Faith House offers emergency shelter to those in the highest danger levels, providing a safe space where families can focus on rebuilding their lives. Physical safety is another major issue.

In this episode of Discover Lafayette, we welcome Jude David, Executive Chairman of Stately Doors & Windows, to discuss the company’s role in delivering ultra-luxury doors and windows for high-end residential and commercial projects. His company does approximately $100 million dollars in sales each year to homes built for business owners, celebrities, and others who can afford to build no matter what the market experiences. Clients have included Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Jerry Seinfeld, Alec Baldwin, Tony Romo, Diddy, and Calvin Klein. A Leader in Bespoke Doors and Windows With nine locations across the U.S., Stately Doors & Windows has established itself as a premier provider of custom, high-quality designs using exotic hardwoods, Swiss steel, and state-of-the-art glass. The company collaborates with top-tier designers and architects, offering one-of-a-kind solutions tailored to their clients’ visionary needs. Stately Doors & Windows is headquartered at 315 S. College Drive in Lafayette, less than a mile from Jude David's home. Pushing the Boundaries of Design and Automation Stately specializes in cutting-edge bespoke innovations, including: Disappearing doors and windows that retract seamlessly into the floor or basement, allowing for uninterrupted indoor-outdoor living. Fully automated doors and windows, eliminating the need for manual operation. Custom shapes and sizes, ensuring that no design challenge is too complex, even offering bespoke door options for the owners' pets. Long-Term Planning and Project Management Jude highlights how Stately works with architects years in advance, often three to four years before construction begins. Unlike many competitors that simply sell products, Stately provides comprehensive project management, from design conception to on-site installation, ensuring a seamless experience. Expanding into Commercial Luxury Spaces Although bespoke doors and windows are rare in commercial projects, Stately has found a niche in high-end hotels, including: La Fonda Resort in New Mexico L’Auberge Bishops Lodge Resort For the people able to pay for these high-end resort prices, it is worth every penny. Very few lodging options offer the luxurious spaces designed by Stately Door & Windows. Additionally, the company operates a high-velocity door manufacturing facility in Las Vegas, producing 2,200 doors per week, and a millwork shop in West Monroe, specializing in moldings, corbels, and luxury finishes for hotel lobbies and upscale spaces. Resilience in Market Fluctuations Despite high interest rates, Stately continues to thrive. Their affluent clientele remain committed to their projects regardless of economic conditions, making their business model highly resilient in both up and down markets. The Artisans Behind the Craft Stately Doors & Windows is built upon skilled artisans who treat their work as an art form rather than just a manufacturing process. Jude acknowledges the difficulty in finding such talent and emphasizes the importance of growing artisans from a young age. The company actively recruits from high schools and trade shows, offering apprenticeship opportunities that lead to lifelong careers in millwork and craftsmanship. Alternative Career Paths and Workforce Development Jude believes that success is not limited to a college degree. He encourages individuals to focus on creating value for their employers, stating that career growth and financial success come from hard work and innovation rather than just formal education. Entrepreneurial Spirit and Leadership Jude shares his entrepreneurial journey, reflecting on his natural inclination toward leadership and growth. He thrives on taking calculated risks, expanding the business through strategic acquisitions, and constantly seeking new challenges. While he acknowledges the importance of teamwork, he admits to being most effective when in charge,

In this episode of Discover Lafayette, we are honored to welcome Father Howard Blessing, a retired Catholic priest in the Diocese of Lafayette. Ordained in 1976 at the age of 25, Father Blessing has dedicated his life to serving others through his pastoral work at various parishes, including Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Holy Cross, Fatima, Sacred Heart of Ville Platte, and as chaplain at Our Lady of Lourdes. Today, he continues his ministry with Kent Zerangue through Food for Love, a mission providing meals to hospice patients and their families. Beyond his priestly duties, Father Blessing has a fascinating backstory—including winning a Dancing with the Stars competition at the Academy of the Sacred Heart with his friend Angi Davis! However, what truly defines him is his unwavering compassion and deep spiritual wisdom, which he shares in this moving conversation. Key Topics Discussed: The Calling to Priesthood: Growing up as one of seven children, Father Blessing did not consider becoming a priest until college. His journey has been one of continuous learning, as he believes that every person he encounters teaches him something valuable about life and faith.  The Power of Listening: Through his work with parishioners and those in recovery, Father Blessing has learned that true ministry is about being present, listening without judgment, and validating people’s experiences rather than dictating solutions. The Journey from Woundedness to Wholeness: As a recovering alcoholic, Father Blessing speaks candidly about self-worth, healing, and forgiveness. He emphasizes that behavior does not define a person—everyone is inherently valuable and worthy of love. Forgiveness as a Spiritual Practice: Father Blessing shares how forgiveness is central to his faith and personal journey. He explains that it is an act of will that unblocks the spiritual path, allowing grace and love to flow freely.  Recognizing Our Own Worth: Inspired by Gandhi’s wisdom, he discusses the importance of self-love and acceptance. The greatest invention, he believes, is the mirror—because the person looking back simply wants to be loved. Marriage and Relationships: Having counseled many couples, Father Blessing offers insights into the challenges of marriage. He stresses that true partnership is about growth, patience, and understanding, rather than relying on another person for happiness.  The Art of Silence and Reflection: In a fast-paced, noisy world, Father Blessing advocates for stillness and deep introspection. He believes that in silence, we hear God’s voice and discover our true selves. Wisdom from Hospice Patients: Through his work with Food for Love, he has encountered individuals at the end of life who have found peace, letting go of fear and embracing the journey ahead. Their reflections have profoundly impacted his understanding of life and death. Living with Purpose: Father Blessing humorously notes that when he retired, he told people, “If my garage door is open, I’m open.” He continues to be available to those in need, emphasizing that life’s journey is about embracing transformation and being open to growth. Faith, Identity, and Love: He reminds us that we are not defined by our careers or achievements but by who we are as children of God. True fulfillment comes from embracing our divine essence and loving others unconditionally. Memorable Quotes: “The greatest invention in the world is the mirror, because the person looking back at you just wants to be loved.” “Forgiveness unclogs the arteries of our spiritual lives and allows grace to flow through us.” “We are called to listen and walk with people, not to tell them what to do.” “God is the potter, we are the clay. Life is about allowing ourselves to be shaped and molded.” “Love is the remedy. And sometimes, with gritted teeth, you just do.” This conversation with Father Howard Blessing is an inspiring reminder of...

Denise Giosa: A Journey in Fashion and Events Denise Giosa’s journey in the world of fashion and events began while she was still in high school, when she joined the Junior Fashion Board at D.H. Holmes in Baton Rouge. It was during this time that she met Beth Phillips, a wonderful mentor who played a significant role in shaping her career. Recognizing Denise’s potential, Beth invited her to be the Youth Coordinator, marking the beginning of her involvement in fashion special events. After college, Denise moved to Lafayette and began traveling for Estée Lauder. It wasn’t long before she received a call from the manager of the Lafayette D.H. Holmes store, offering her a job. She accepted and continued working with the company for five years, further establishing herself in the industry. She thereafter worked for Maison Blanche, and eventually began freelancing in fashion and bridal shows. Her career took another turn when Mark Falgout of Warehouse 535 reached out to her. Originally envisioned as a live music venue, Warehouse 535, located at 535 Garfield Street in the Freetown neighborhood near downtown, has evolved into a multi-purpose event space. Over time, it has expanded beyond live music to host a variety of events, and Denise has played a crucial role in that transformation. Guiding Clients in Event Planning Denise takes a structured approach to helping clients determine their event needs. Before a client even books a date, she ensures they go through a detailed planning process. She asks key questions such as the date, type of event, expected size, and any special requirements. She also helps them visualize how the space will be used, ensuring that all elements—such as a photo booth or seating arrangements—are carefully considered. Her meticulous attention to detail means that by the time an event day arrives, she has already coordinated all aspects. She knows every vendor, delivery time, and setup detail, ensuring that clients never have to scramble at the last minute. Her hands-on approach means that every table, chair, and decoration is in place before the event begins, allowing clients to enjoy their special day stress-free. Additional Services and Wedding Planning Warehouse 535 offers comprehensive event services as part of the venue rental. However, additional services, such as hiring a wedding planner, are to be handled by the client. Some clients choose to bring in a planner midway through the process or hire a "day-of" coordinator to handle last-minute details. Denise ensures that clients understand what each wedding planner offers, as different planners provide different levels of service. She also educates clients on the finer details of event planning. For instance, if a couple is handling their own décor, she ensures they have a plan for setup. She also helps them clarify their expectations with vendors, such as ensuring photographers are booked for the right amount of time so they capture key moments, including the end of the event. Catering, Beverages, and Entertainment Warehouse 535 has certain requirements for event vendors. Caterers must be licensed and insured, and all beverages are provided through the venue. Clients can choose from various beverage packages, ranging from domestic beer and wine to premium selections. Entertainment is another major consideration. Some couples prefer DJs over bands because they want to curate their own playlists, while others love the energy of live music. Denise emphasizes that entertainment is key to keeping an event’s momentum going, and she ensures that DJs and bands are properly set up and integrated into the event timeline. The Evolution of Warehouse 535 Denise has witnessed the growth of Warehouse 535 firsthand. What started as a music venue has expanded to host diverse events, including weddings, corporate functions, and creative experiences like an Edgar Allan Poe-themed speakeasy.

Fred Reggie is the author of the soon-to-be-released book, Tell Me: How to Initiate and Nurture Meaningful Conversations with Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime. Throughout his career, Fred has worked with Fortune 500 companies and service organizations across the U.S., helping leaders cultivate meaningful connections and drive success. Fred Reggie is an executive coach, international speaker, and expert in leadership and service culture development. He is well-known in our community and for years spent his time building funding resources for  St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a cause dear to many of our hearts. The Power of Communication Fred believes that genuine communication stems from an internal motivation to share a message with others. However, many people struggle with seeing the value they bring to conversations, often due to deep-seated self-doubt and imposter syndrome. He explores how, from an early age, we are celebrated for speaking but later conditioned to limit our expressions, being told to quiet down or avoid talking to strangers. This conditioning, Fred explains, creates subconscious barriers. As adults, many of us hesitate to speak up because we question whether our words have value. Moreover, societal norms and technology have reshaped how we communicate, further distancing us from authentic, face-to-face interactions. The Disruption of Conversation Fred discusses how technology has altered human connection. Younger generations, he notes, often prefer texting over direct conversation, avoiding phone calls altogether. "Cocooned communication," as Fred calls it, has been evolving for decades—beginning with the automobile, which removed people from their porches and into isolated vehicles, and continuing with the rise of television, personal computers, and smartphones. Today, many people live in bubbles of self-communication, limiting the organic conversations that once thrived in everyday life. The Art of "Tell Me" At the heart of Fred’s book is a simple yet profound concept: using the phrase "Tell me" to invite others into meaningful conversations. Rather than asking closed-ended questions, this approach encourages people to share freely, fostering deeper connections. He recalls a powerful moment when James Earl Jones, upon meeting an adoring fan, responded not with a simple "Who are you?" but with, "Tell me your name." That small shift in language made the woman feel seen and valued. Fred encourages using this technique in all conversations, whether personal or professional, to create an environment of trust and engagement. The Neuroscience of Connection Fred emphasizes that engaging conversations have a physiological impact. When we participate in meaningful discussions, our brains release oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin—chemicals that enhance emotional intelligence, empathy, and overall well-being. Conversely, negative or disconnected conversations can leave us feeling drained and isolated. The Legacy of Storytelling Growing up in a Lebanese family, Fred was surrounded by master storytellers who didn’t just recount events but embodied the characters they spoke about. He believes that storytelling is fundamental to great conversation—it transforms the exchange of information into a compelling, memorable experience. Fred encourages people to embrace storytelling in their daily interactions, whether through professional networking or personal relationships. He also urges listeners to recognize the ripple effect of their words, as every interaction has the power to uplift or deflate another person. A Call to Action: Create Conversational Moments Fred concludes with a simple yet powerful challenge: create conversational moments. He encourages listeners to step outside their comfort zones, engage with strangers, and make genuine connections. By doing so, we can break the cycle of disconnected communication and bring back the lost art of conversation.

In this episode of Discover Lafayette, we welcome Chris Cook, General Manager of KLFY-TV 10. With years of experience in the broadcasting industry both locally and nationally, Chris is at the forefront of delivering the news, weather, and community stories that matter most to Acadiana. Under his leadership, KLFY continues to evolve in the digital age while maintaining its deep roots in local journalism. The station signed on the air June 3, 1955 and has remained a CBS affiliate since day one. Chris shares his journey in television news, beginning right out of high school in his hometown of Alexandria, where he worked as a photographer. He later moved to Lafayette, a place that felt like a natural home due to family ties and frequent visits for Mardi Gras and Festival Acadiens. His early experiences exposed him to various aspects of the newsroom, from audio production to graphics, sales and marketing. Throughout our conversation, Chris provides insights into the evolving landscape of television news, the impact of local journalism on our community, and how KLFY stays connected with its audience in a fast-changing digital world. He emphasizes the importance of community engagement, civil discourse, and the responsibility of news organizations to serve their audiences with accurate and fair reporting. Key Takeaways: The Role of Local News: Chris believes that local journalism plays a crucial role in keeping people informed about what’s happening in their city and state. Unlike national news, which can sometimes push an agenda, local news provides facts that allow viewers to form their own opinions. The Digital Transformation of News: KLFY has embraced digital platforms to reach audiences where they consume content, whether through its website, social media, mobile app, or its upcoming streaming service, KLFY Plus, launching in late April on Roku, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV, which will focus solely on local news, podcasts. and interviews relating to the Acadiana. Behind the Scenes at KLFY: Chris discusses how news assignments are made, the collaborative effort required to produce a broadcast, and how breaking news can change the course of a reporter’s day at a moment’s notice. Journalism as a Craft: Whether through formal education or hands-on experience, Chris believes that journalism is a skill honed through practice, curiosity, and a commitment to storytelling with integrity. Navigating the Age of Misinformation: With more people consuming news from social media, Chris advises viewers to critically evaluate their news sources, asking who posted the content and why. First of all, this job is fun. We're working in television. So if you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong. And, there are few things in this world that are more collaborative than a newscast on a broadcast television station. There's so many different hands, so many different eyes, so many different brains that have to come together in order to put that newscast together. The journalists, the producer, the meteorologist, sportscaster, graphic artists, director, cameramen, and sales force." Connect with KLFY: Website: KLFY.com Facebook: KLFY News 10 Instagram: @KLFY Download the KLFY News App: Available on iOS and Android for real-time updates and push alerts. Chris Cook’s passion for journalism and serving the community is evident throughout this discussion. His commitment to upholding the integrity of local news in an ever-changing media landscape is inspiring. Tune in to this episode to learn more about how KLFY continues to innovate while staying true to its mission of informing and engaging Acadiana. Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform!

Discover Lafayette is thrilled to welcome Kiki Frayard, founder of Kiki, a boutique store known for its exquisite selection of fine jewelry, fragrances, handbags, and other carefully curated items from designers across the world. While Kiki is known for offering unique designs, Kiki says, "Anybody can walk in to buy fun or lower price point jewelry at $75 to $250. We also offer jewelry up to $65,000." In addition to her successful retail business, Kiki recently ventured into children's literature with her book Lila Says No, cleverly illustrated by Aileen Bennett. Her passion for beauty and creativity extends beyond retail, as seen on her vibrant Instagram page, where she shares colorful and inspirational table settings for various events. Kiki, an Opelousas native, has strong ties to the Lafayette community. She is the sister of Marilyn Castle, retired 15th JDC judge, and Joan Dubuisson of Cox Business. She graduated from UL-Lafayette with degrees in Art History and English, initially intending to become an art teacher before discovering her passion for advertising and retail. Her career has been a fascinating journey, including stints as a nightclub singer in New Orleans, a radio advertising executive, and an ad agency owner. Working alongside advertising legend George Graham, Kiki honed her skills in creative writing and marketing, ultimately paving the way for her entrepreneurial success. Kiki opened her boutique in River Ranch after gaining invaluable retail experience from Molly Flanagan, owner of Molly’s. She and her daughter, Katie, built the business together, expanding to Baton Rouge and establishing Kiki as a premier shopping destination. A life-changing car accident in 2007 prompted Kiki to embrace retail fully, leaving advertising to focus on her boutique. She and Katie meticulously designed the store, ensuring an elevated shopping experience comparable to high-end retailers in New York and beyond. Kiki says, "We knew we wanted to do something nice. We didn't want it to be a hodgepodge of display cases and just thrown together. We really wanted it to be the nicest store in Lafayette. "We had a vision of doing jewelry with designers in mind so that every case was dedicated to a designer. The handbags were displayed one on a shelf to make it seem really special so that everything seemed a little elevated. That worked when people walked in the store. Also, with most merchandise, if you don't turn it, you got to put it on sale, you've got to get rid of it, you got to turn. But jewelry isn't like that. We could have an expensive piece of jewelry and it could be there for two years, and then someone comes in and and buys it. So you don't have to discount quite as much. The same thing with perfume." Beyond retail, Kiki has made a mark in the Lafayette community. She played a crucial role in the development of Lafayette's downtown playground, recognizing its value in revitalizing the area. Her passion for community enrichment continues to shape her contributions to the city’s cultural and economic landscape. Kiki’s love for creativity extends to her personal life, where she enjoys setting stunning tablescapes for family gatherings. Her collections of fine china and linens reflect her impeccable taste and appreciation for beauty. Her foray into children's literature has been met with great enthusiasm. Lila Says No is resonating with parents and educators, with notable endorsements from child psychologist Carolyn Helm. The book received a glowing review rom Kirkus as "quirky and entertaining, with a kid and parent-savvy message." Kiki’s deep admiration for children’s literature and her collection of over 500 books inspired her to finally write her own story, with more books potentially on the horizon. Though retired from store ownership, Kiki remains an integral part of Kiki, still attending market trips and influencing the store’s aesthetic.

Discover Lafayette welcomes Dale Clark, Ursula Quoyeser, and Harriet Hoag to discuss the upcoming 4th annual Fin Feather Fur Food Festival ("F5"). This event raises funds for the Team Gleason Foundation, which supports individuals living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (“ALS”). Team Gleason, through its diverse and broad-reaching programming, brings assistive technology, equipment, and robust support services into the hands of ALS patients – to help individuals with ALS not just survive but thrive after a devastating diagnosis. Each of our guests has either been personally affected by ALS or has supported a loved one with the disease. Event Details: Date: April 24, 2025 Time: 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM Location: Blackham Coliseum, Lafayette, LA Tickets: $45 Website: https://teamgleason.org/f5/ Attendees can enjoy great food, beer, and wine while supporting a worthy cause. F5 is a cooking competition where teams compete in four categories: Fin, Feather, Fur, and Dessert. Awards will be given to the best dishes, a "People’s Choice" winner, and a "Team Showmanship" winner chosen by a panel of judges. Additionally, a silent auction will offer a selection of valuable items. Teams also compete to raise the most funds for Team Gleason, with prizes awarded to top fundraisers. About Team Gleason Foundation: In January 2011, New Orleans Saints star Steve Gleason was diagnosed with ALS. Faced with this devastating diagnosis, Steve embraced a new mission: to show that people with ALS can not only live but thrive and to inspire others facing similar challenges. “People were simply expected to fade away quietly and die, that was not acceptable to me. That is not OK.” Steve and his wife, Michel Varisco, founded Team Gleason, a nonprofit dedicated to helping individuals with ALS lead purposeful and fulfilling lives.  Team Gleason has provided over $55 million in resources to individuals with ALS. Their work includes supplying mobility equipment, power seat elevators, speech-generating devices, and essential home modifications. Personal Impact of Team Gleason: Ursula Quoyeser’s Experience Ursula has received significant support from Team Gleason. These resources have been life-changing, enabling her to maintain independence. Ursula reflects on how Team Gleason anticipates needs before they arise, ensuring that people living with ALS receive assistance promptly. One of the most important things that Team Gleason provides is pathways of communication to connect ALS families with each other so that resources that are no longer needed are generously shared. Many of you know Ursula as a superstar Volleyball coach! She is still a superstar and it is an honor to share her story so that the Team Gleason message may be distributed to a wide audience! Harriet Hoag’s Journey Harriet’s late husband, Monty, was diagnosed with ALS during the height of COVID-19, making the journey even more isolating. Doctors struggled to diagnose him, but Harriet’s own research led them to Baylor Hospital, where they received confirmation. She credits Team Gleason for providing invaluable resources such as a speech-generating device that allowed Monty to communicate with their granddaughter even in his final days. Dale Clark’s Commitment After being diagnosed with ALS, Dale was inspired to help others in the ALS community. Witnessing the challenges faced by fellow patients at his clinic in Houston, he saw the opportunity to make a difference. His dedication, alongside generous contributions from local companies like Badger Oil and Gas and Service Chevrolet, has helped F5 grow into a major fundraising success. For a more in-depth interview we did in 2024 with Dale and Ursula, listen here. Dale Clark says, "100% of the money goes to Team Gleason. In fact, we tell people to mail their check to Team Gleason so we don't have to handle any money. The Importance of Fundraising: Over the past three years,