Phil Lemoine and his family always had an ace up their sleeves when it came to paqueing eggs.
The former Ville Platte mayor fondly remembers taking part in the traditional Cajun and Catholic game as a child on Easter Sunday. The ritual pits two people hitting or knocking hard-boiled eggs together, and whoever holds the egg that cracks first is the “loser.”
Lemoine, his siblings and cousins got the upper hand by swapping out chicken eggs for Guinea eggs, known for having much harder shells.
“The Guinea eggs were one of our secrets,” laughed Lemoine. “That’s because they were the toughest egg. We felt that it was cheating and that stopped us sometimes from using them… only sometimes.”
Egg paqueing has been around for centuries and dates back to Europe. The tradition was brought to Louisiana by the earliest Catholic settlers and has been passed down for generations. There is a debate on the origin of the game’s name. It is either inspired by the pock-pock-pock sound an egg makes when hitting another or from the word Paques, which is French for Easter.
Regardless of where origin of the name of the game stems from, its popularity in Evangeline Parish grew amongst the Veillons, Aucoins, LaFleurs, Lemoines and dozens of other families.
The Ortegos were one of those families and Ville Platte Gazette Publisher David Ortego remembers just how important the tradition was in his household.
“My grandfather took a lot pride in egg paqueing,” Ortego said. “He had his own chickens and a good three weeks before Easter, he would sit down in his chair, his spot, and he had a bowl of eggs. He would take the eggs and hit them on his front teeth and he could tell by the sound of the egg if they were hard or not.”
Ortego added, “If he felt they were hard enough he would put it aside in a bowl. If it didn’t make that sound he would place it in another bowl. At the end he would have the two best dozen eggs and those are the ones that would be dyed.”
Former Evangeline Parish District Attorney Brent Coreil remembers his grandparents using their teeth as well to determine the hardness of the shells. Coreil also recalls a very popular method used by many families to help harden the shells of their eggs.
“I grew up with parents that had a feed store,” Coreil said. “Prior to Easter we would start selling crushed oyster shells to go with the chicken feed. The oyster shells helped make the chickens lay an egg with a harder shell.”
Corel’s family would also make sure to put aside plenty of those hardened eggs for themselves come Easter Sunday.
“We dyed and kept the stronger ones to visit the other families to paque,” Coreil said. “You would have to make your rounds and paque your eggs with everybody.”
Ebby Perrodin recalls just how precious having that elusive hard-shell egg was during Easter weekend.
“You would hold on to those eggs like they were jewels,” Perrodin said. “If you had a good egg people would come into the house and start yelling for you to come down and paque.”
The immensely popular pastime wasn’t regulated to just knocking eggs, as part of the fun for many children was the dying of the eggs. Dying the egg was traditionally done on Good Friday and the dying process would either be done by the store-bought dyes or home-made methods.
“Mom and dad showed us how to dye eggs in a coffee cup,” Perrodin said. “You would buy a pack of dye and use a teaspoon of vinegar and some warm water. The boiling time would break a few and of course we dropped a few.”
If you couldn’t afford the store-bought dye, it was not all that hard to find what you needed in the backyard garden or leftover ingredients from dinner.
“Sometimes we would get coffee grains or leaves from the tree or onion peels and use that to dye the eggs,” Perrodin remembered. “Those red onion peels would make your egg come out in a beautiful shade of red.”
Like Perrodin, Lemoine reflects back on how the entire holiday weekend was an event. It started with dying the eggs on Friday and then attending mass, having an egg hunt and paqueing eggs on Sunday, and sometimes an added bonus. And that bonus doesn’t include having the broken eggs turned into potato salad or deviled eggs.
“We would have an Easter egg hunt and there would be golden eggs,” Lemoine said. “If you found the golden egg it was a special prize. That special prize inside was a letter to a scavenger hunt to look for other things. Our Easter egg hunts turned into scavenger hunts.”
Egg paqueing is still common in Evangeline Parish, Avoyelles Parish (Marksville hosts an event at the parish courthouse) and in some parts of others, like St. Landry but that is all. The tradition simply died out.
Paqueing eggs was far more popular fifty years ago, when entire families would compete with other families in town, than it is today.
“People are just not interested anymore,” Perrodin said. “There are too many things to do now. Nobody in town even dyes eggs anymore.”
“It’s not as formalized as it used to be,” Coreil said. “People would wear their Easter best. Little girls wore beautiful dresses, young men wore slacks and dress shirts and everyone went to church. It is unfortunate that we don’t do it like we used too.”
That is why, for some people, passing down the region’s distinctive tradition takes on even more importance.
“It was extremely important,” Lemoine said. “It was our family’s tradition. It made us feel part of the community. It was just Easter tradition for everyone here in the community. That’s why it was so important.”

For Sami Jo Welch, singing is her life, and for the second year in a row the Boggy Bayou Festival’s stage will be where Todd and Cindy Welch’s daughter displays her continual growing musical talent.
Performing at her hometown’s annual festival has provided the 12-year old with the opportunity to showcase the musical skills she has acquired during the two summers that Welch attended the week long music camp Septien Entertainment in Dallas, Texas.
Welch said, “This camp has really helped me get over my stage fright. I’m a shy person, but now I don’t get as nervous to sing in front of a crowd as I use too.”
Along with helping her overcome her stage fright, Welch said the camp, also provided her with the opportunity to take voice lessons, record a demo, have a photo session, take music lessons, and learn more about rhythm and drums.
At this year’s festival, Welch is hoping to try out the skills she learned last summer to enhance her performance even more.
“At camp, we worked on how to get the crowd going, and making sure you don’t stand still on stage. You have to move around,” said Welch. “Because I’m shy, I didn’t do that as much. I want to work on doing that more at Boggy Bayou.”
When it comes to singing, Welch said, “That is all I have wanted to do my whole life,” and to continue her journey to making that happen, she plans to raise money to help pay the $1,000 Septien Entertainment camp fee.
Welch, along with the help of her mom Cindy, will have a booth set up at the three day festival event and will be selling handmade air fresheners, softball bows, and painted wine bottles.
Welch said, “I’m excited to get to perform at the festival again this year, because it is such an honor to get to sing there. The Boggy Bayou for so many years has been helping people’s careers, and now it’s helping me reach my goals too.
Welch will perform Thursday, March 31, at 5:30 p.m.

A shirt dedication will be done in honor of the late musician Shane West at the 32nd Annual Boggy Bayou Festival this Saturday. After learning of the board’s plan to remember Shane at this year’s event, his wife and three kids were reminded of what Shane meant to the festival. They then couldn’t help but remember what the festival meant to him.
According to Branigan, Shane’s oldest child, her dad loved the festival because his whole family could be stage side for the main event.
“A lot of our family couldn’t go to most of my dad’s shows, especially his nieces and nephews because he sometimes played in bars. But for Boggy Bayou his whole family could see him perform, and he loved nothing more than that,” said Branigan. “That’s why he loved playing at the festival so much.”
Shane’s youngest child Maddi agreed with what her older sister said.
Maddi added, “The Boggy Bayou was one of the only places I got to see my dad perform until I was older, and I think having his kids there made performing at the festival special for him.”
A story that Shane’s wife told about her late husband’s 2008 performance at Boggy Bayou proved how much dedication Shane had to his hometown’s annual festival.
Nanci said, “Shane spent years in and out of the hospital before the doctors diagnosed him with Mesothelioma, and for the festival in 2009 he was suppose to perform, but days before the festival he got really sick and ended up in the hospital. On the day that he was suppose to perform the doctor wouldn’t release him, and he told that doctor ‘I’m leaving because I have to sing at the Boggy Bayou Festival tonight.’”
Against his doctor’s wishes, Nanci said, “We left the hospital that day and hurried to go buy him some clothes, and made it just in time for him to sing. He refused to miss singing at the festival because he loved performing there that much.”
Shane had lost 20 pounds during his stint in the hospital, but that night, he performed like the superstar he was.
According to Bernice Ardoin, Shane has performed at the festival “at least five times” since its beginning in 1985.
The year he took the stage after a stint in the hospital, his middle child Dayne also performed.
Dayne said, “The people in Pine Prairie meant a lot to my dad, and to get to show off his kids to the people he cared so much about, meant everything. It made him so proud.”
Shane loved to debut his children’s talent on the Boggy Bayou stage so much that he made sure to perform with them at the festival. In 1999, Branigan, Dayne, and Maddi joined their dad on stage to perform for the crowd.
Branigan joked, “He made us practice so much before we sang with him on stage, and he never let Maddi live down the fact that she chickened out.”
Dayne laughed as he added, “My dad always said that Maddi got up there and coughed and acted like she was sick so she wouldn’t have to sing.”
Nonetheless, all of his children stood on that stage with him at least once, which made Boggy Bayou even more meaningful to Shane.
Dayne, who has followed in his dad’s footsteps, hopes to carry on the love for music that Shane always looked forward to showcasing at the Boggy Bayou Festival.
“My dad always said that musical talent gets better and better with each generation, and he always hoped that I would play music,” said Dayne. “He especially wanted his grandson Parker to play music, because he always thought Parker was going to have a good ear for it. Parker will probably perform at Boggy Bayou, too, one day, and nothing would make my dad more proud than that.”
When asked what she thinks Shane would say about the shirt dedication, Nanci laughed and said, “If Shane were here right now he’d probably be saying ‘what y’all doing that for. I didn’t do anything special.’” She then continue, “But inside he’d be so happy.”

Hundreds of cyclists will be pedaling along the highways of St. Landry and Evangeline Parishes this weekend.
Cycle Zydeco returns to the area this Friday and Saturday and this year the group will feature more than 450 cyclists. The event begins on Friday in Arnaudville with two different routes. The short route consists of Grand Coteau and Sunset and the longer route will travel through Port Barre and Washington. The cyclists will then end the day with a party at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas.
Then on Saturday, cyclists will travel through parts of Evangeline Parish.
Cyclists will begin the day in Opelousas and will once again have two routes to choose from. The shorter route will guide riders to Mamou and then to Eunice, while the longer route will take them to Washington and Grand Prairie.
“The purpose of the route is for our riders to have the opportunity to take in the Cajun and Creole culture of Louisiana,” Scott Schilling said. “Mamou has always been part of the mix for this event. We have cyclists that are hitting the road at 6 in the morning so they can be at Fred’s Lounge for 9. These riders enjoy exercise of course but they also like to eat, drink and dance. They are just choosing to use a bike to get there.”
Schilling serves as the president of the Transportation Recreation Alternatives In Louisiana (TRAIL), a trails advocacy group based out of Lafayette. The Cycle Zydeco event is one of four large group events TRAIL is associated with this year.
The 43-year-old Schilling has always had a passion for outdoor activities.
“I like to do anything outside,” Schilling said. “Whether it is kayaking, cycling, paddling or running. For years though I always had to travel to do those activities.”
That is what inspired Schilling to help create TRAIL, a group whose efforts range from promoting safe road cycling to developing hiking and biking trails throughout Acadiana.
The group right now is focused on creating a cycling-multipurpose path that connects St. Martinville, Lafayette, Breaux Bridge, Opelousas, Krotz Springs and eventually Ville Platte and Chicot State Park.
The group has secured some grants and the project is still in the conception stage.
“It started in 2004 because we realized that no one had the money to start these projects,” Schilling said. “We wanted an organization that could work alongside government agencies. Hopefully this project can get some momentum and it can take on a life of its own.”
Schilling adds that events like the Cycle Zydeco event has helped him learn more about other areas of the state, and he is hopeful that these events attract more natives of the state to participate.
For this year’s Zydeco event, only a handful of Louisiana residents are taking part.
“One of our big focuses for 2017 is to get more Louisiana riders participating,” Schilling said. “Personally, I have learned more about our community from putting on these events. You dig a little deeper and you learn something.”

D.A.R.E. instructor Detective Patrick Hall is honored to announce the 5th grade class of Sacred Heart Elementary participated in a graduation ceremony on March 18, 2016.
Guest Speaker Pastor Kaleb Semien of Word ministries spoke with the graduates about staying focused and following steps that lead to greater accomplishments and successful futures. Det. Hall stated that he is proud of these students for their hard work. Det. Hall also wishes to thank the families who came to the graduation ceremony for supporting the program and their children. “It is important for these children to have the support of their teachers and parents.” Hall said, “It reinforces that the programs is important and the lessons they learned have meaning.”
Chief Neal Lartigue stated that this program shows the young of our community about the dangers of drug abuse, alcohol abuse and even bullying. “We are proud to continue this program in our community.” Chief Lartigue said, “Our children face many obstacles in life and this program gives them solutions, options and beliefs to help them overcome some of these problems.”
Det. Hall also wishes to thank Walmart for donating cupcakes and punch for the graduates. “It’s great to have the support of our local community and it shows these students that we are proud of them and support their efforts to follow the guidelines of what they learned to be successful members of society.”
One essay winner is chosen from each class and those winners from the two 5th grade classes at Sacred Heart this year are Nicholas Fontenot and Harlie Arnaud.
Congratulations to everyone who participated in the D.A.R.E. program!

After four days of testimony, an Evangeline Parish jury of 12 found Samuel Anderson guilty of first degree murder and armed robbery.
In the State’s closing on Friday, assistant district attorney Kelly Tate retold the events that led to the shooting and killing of K&T Meat Market and Grocery owner Ann Nguyen at her Ville Platte Store on July 28, 2014.
Tate began her closing argument by yelling, “Boom,” before she said, “That was the last sound Ms. Ann Nguyen heard before she died.”
Anderson was accused of firing the shots that claimed the life of Nguyen while committing armed robbery of her store.
Nguyen had been in the process of selling the store so that she could move to California to be closer to her children and grandchildren, and the purchase agreement had already been signed.
In Tate’s closing she said, “Nguyen didn’t leave for California soon enough.”
Anderson became a suspect for these crimes after Louisiana State Trooper Willie Williams received a tip from a confidential informant which changed the direction of the police’s search for Nguyen’s murderer.
Originally, law enforcement officers were in search of a man with dreadlocks.
Anderson was located at the casino in Kinder during the early morning hours of July 29, 2014. He had gambled for a little while before preparing to board a bus headed to Houston where the defendant lived.
During the State’s closing Tate said, “Like Ms. Ann Nguyen, Anderson didn’t get away soon enough.”
The assistant district attorney then said, “That’s poetic justice.”
Tate then went through each piece of evidence to prove the State’s case.
She said, “We know he killed her because he confessed to the murder. We also know that the bullet that was recovered from Ms. Ann Nguyen’s head matches the gun that was found in Samuel Anderson’s backpack.”
Defense attorneys Alex Chapman and Greg Cook however argued that no one could definitively say that Anderson pulled the trigger of the murder weapon because the weapon had never been fingerprinted.
The State used Anderson’s confession to discredit the defense’s argument, though.
The State also used the fact that Anderson went into the store with a loaded gun to prove that the defendant had specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm, and it worked.
District Attorney Trent Brignac at the closing of the trial said, “This was Mrs. Kelly Tate’s first murder trial, and she did an excellent job.”
The D.A. then went on to “thank the whole D.A. staff for their hard work on the four jury trials” they have had in “the last three months.”
Brignac also thanked the jury, and complimented the work of Judge Chuck West.
Anderson’s sentencing is set for July 28, 2016, which marks the two year anniversary of the crime that ended Nguyen’s life.

MAMOU – In 1946, not long after T-Ed and his brother Austin Manuel returned home from serving in World War II, the two Mamou natives and their other brother Ulyses opened Manuel Bar on the town’s famous 6th Street. The bar thrived because of support from soldiers at Fort Polk who would visit their brothers from the service at the bar, as well as from the support of the community.
Today, 70 years later, T-Ed’s son Eugene has began working to restore his families bar back to its original glory.
Eugene said, “This place has a lot of history, but it has been overlooked because in the 80’s the bar was actually closed, and stayed closed for about 10 years.”
Unlike his father and uncles, Eugene does not run Manuel Sports Bar. He and his sister Dana Manuel Gore have instead chosen to lease the building to Mickey Vidrine.
That however hasn’t stopped Eugene from enjoying the bar the way he remembers enjoying it during a different era.
“There use to be a poker room in the back and when I was younger I would go stand by the door and try to listen to what the people playing cards would talk about,” said Eugene. “You could always hear some interesting conversations coming from that room.”
The poker room became a place that a young Eugene used to make money himself, but it wasn’t because he was skilled at bluffing his way to a big pot.
Eugene remembered, “My dad never let me play cards, because he said that’s how you lose all your money, but I still made money off of the people playing. When I’d ease drop on the people in the poker room, and they’d finally notice me there, they’d say, ‘Here’s some money boy. Now, you go on.’”
Laughing, Eugene said, “So, if I needed some money, I’d just ease drop until they noticed me listening.”
Through his efforts to revive the 80-year old bar, Eugene was not able to bring back to life the poker room that once existed. The reason Eugene said “is because we have casinos today.”
Casinos may have caused the poker room to remain only a memory from the past, but nothing has been able to stop the resurrection of French music being played in the iconic Mamou bar.
Every Saturday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. visitors to Manuel Sports Bar can enjoy the sound of music that the small town of Mamou has become famous for, performed by Courtney Granger and Kal Huval.
Eugene said, “My dad and them always had French music playing in the bar. French music meant a lot to my dad and uncles, so much so that for Mardi Gras my dad made it a point to make sure that the band stand was set up right in front of his bar. That always brought more people here, and that’s why we have started having French music played on Saturday mornings again, like my family use to.”
That isn’t the only way the Manuels filled their bar. According to Eugene the town of Mamou, years ago, “passed an ordinance that said you couldn’t sell alcohol until the afternoon on Sundays.”
The ordinance was passed because of a trick one of Eugene’s uncles would use to bring in more customers.
Eugene said, “On Sunday mornings Uncle Austin would stand out on the sidewalk in front of the bar and constantly sweep the sidewalk. As cars would go by, he’d flag his buddies down that were at the bar the night before, and he’d say, ‘Y’all come have a drink.’ His friends would tell him, ‘Oh, Austin, I’m not feeling to good from last night.’ Somehow he always managed to convince them to go in and have a drink, and well, after one drink, they’d start feeling a little better and then wouldn’t leave.”
Eugene began laughing, and said, “The men wouldn’t make it to church and their wives and the priest weren’t too happy about that. That’s why the ordinance was passed.”
It is stories like the one about the ordinance and the poker room that have made Eugene want to keep seeing his family’s bar continue in the success it once had.
Although the bar does not house many of its original pieces, Eugene plans to eventually display some pieces from the early days of the bar down the road. He also plans to restore the floor to the way it looked when his dad and uncles owned it, so that visitors can experience Manuel Sports Bar the same way he did so many years ago.
Eugene said, “I want to see this place stay alive, so that we can continue to share our culture and traditions with the people who know nothing about it and with the people who love it. I know that my dad would have wanted to see his business stay in the family, and continue to provide people with a good time. And, that’s what I plan to make happen.”

Before the Evangeline Parish Police Jury began their regular meeting Monday night, the Executive Committee discussed computer security concerns.
In March the police jury’s computer system was hacked by ransomware, which means that criminals have locked digital files and demanded ransom before they would unlock any of the documents.
According to the police jury’s secretary Donald Bergeron, what caused this to happen to the EPPJ’s computer system is unknown, but “could have been caused by an employee clicking on an email that was spam.”
The secretary went on to say that the computer hackers encrypted files that were Word documents and Excel documents. By encrypting these documents, the police jury was unable to access them anymore.
At this point, Bergeron said, “By using our backup system we have been able to recover almost all of the encrypted files without having to pay anything. There is however about 12 months of Word documents and Excel documents that we have not been able to recover.”
Bergeron did point out though, that no personal information had been stolen.
He also stated that, “Louisiana just adopted the Comprehensive Information Security Plan, and the police jury has begun to take the necessary steps to keep this from happening again, and to make sure personal information is protected.”
While no personal information has been stolen, the police jury will have to recreate about 12 months of budgets because they were unable to recover that information.
Even in the midst of dealing with computer hackers, the police jury has begun making strides in collecting unpaid sewer bills.
The police jury is unable to cut off someone’s sewer service, and for that reason they chose to request to have the Reddell Vidrine Water District shut off someone’s water that has not been paying their sewer bills.
During their regular meeting, the EPPJ was updated by Bergeron about the progress that has been made in this matter.
Bergeron said, “I have sent letters to 12 of the individuals that were on the high end of how much is owed for their sewer.”
The secretary then continued, “10 out of the 12 people that we sent letters to have already contacted us, and eight of those 10 have set up payment agreements.”
According to Bergeron, approximately $20,000.00 could be collected from unpaid sewer bills.
Police Juror Eric Soileau said, “We want to thank the Reddell Vidrine Water District for helping us collect these unpaid bills.”
Because this has been working so well, Bergeron said, “We will be sending out additional letters to others who haven’t been paying.”
Even through dealing with a computer security problem and unpaid sewer bills, the police jury still found time to work on giving back.
Jill Stevens with Every Paw Animal Rescue (EPAR) addressed the jury at the April 4, 2016 regular meeting, and asked the jurors if they could help the non-profit animal rescue group by donating $100 a month to EPAR.
The $100 Stevens requested would be used to help pay for the strays in the parish that EPAR is paying to have euthanized.
Police Juror Bryan Vidrine said, “We are not allowed to donate money but what we can do is get the bills from y’all and pay those bills. I would be in favor of paying more than $100, because the service you guys are doing definitely helps us and the parish.”
The EPPJ decided to table this discussion until after they are able to study exactly where the funds that will be used to help pay for the euthanization of parish strays will come from.
This topic will be re-addressed at next month’s committee meeting.
Other items discussed and approved were:
•Reappointment of Bradley Ardoin to Library Board.
•Appointment of Shawn Devillier to the Ville Platte Fire District #2 board.
•Appointment of Donald Bergeron as representative for the jury for the 2040 Regional Transit Study.
•Increase transfer of funds from Ward 2 to Ward 3 to 15% - District #3.
•Approve the payment of conference travel to the LEPA Conference for Mona Nelson and Sherry Buller.
•Approve changing the speed limit on Sand Trap Rd. from 5-mph to 15-mph.
•Adopt a proclamation for National Fair Housing Month.

Chicot State Park is one of the state’s most lucrative and visited parks, and the facility will remain open for business even if the state park’s budget is cut for next fiscal year.
Robert Barham, secretary of state parks, said, “We met with the state’s division of administration, and we were told to expect a possible 30 percent reduction in our budget.
“We don’t want to do this. We don’t want to close one park. We hope that they will stabilize the budget.”
The list of things to see and do in Louisiana may shrink this summer if the upcoming special legislative session can’t fix the $750 million deficit in the 2016-17 fiscal year budget.
On Monday afternoon, Barham presented the House Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government with a list parks, historic sites and museums that would have to be closed if the state park budget is cut.
Ten of the state’s 22 parks would stay open, and those parks are Chicot, Fontainebleau, Jimmie Davis, Sam Houston, Poverty Point Reservoir, Lake Fausse Pointe, Palmetto Island, South Toledo Bend, Bayou Segnette and Lake D’Arbonne.
State parks set for potential closure are: Bogue Chitto, Grand Isle, Fairview-Riverside, Tickfaw, Lake Claiborne, North Toledo Bend, Cypremort Point, Hodges Gardens, Lake Bistineau, St. Bernard, Chemin-A-Haut and Lake Bruin.
Historic sites that could close are Fort Pike, Fort St. Jean Baptiste, Fort Randolph, Longfellow-Evangeline, Rebel, Mansfield, Fort Jesup, Centenary, Marksville, Plaquemine and Winter Quarters. Those that would survive include: Rosedown Plantation, Audobon, Poverty Point World Heritage Site and Port Hudson.
Museums set for closure are: Madame John’s Legacy, 1850 House, Collections Facility, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, E.D. White House and Wendell Williams Museum.
“These parks are about places and people,” Barham said. “That’s what state parks are about.”
He added, “Parks are very important to people.”
Barham said the list of which parks would have to be closed came about by using a matrix that looked at each facility’s visitor numbers and return on investment. Those slated for closure would be maintained if closed, and Barham clarified what the closing of a park would mean.
“It’s more of a caretaker status than a closure,” he said. “The gates won’t be padlocked like we are never going back. They won’t be mothballed. Grass will be mowed, and air conditioning will stay on in the necessary buildings.”
The secretary said if the closures do happen, there may be other changes with each individual property, including those that have received federal funds. Those parks whose land was given to the state could also be returned to the previous owner, if they close.
The final decision on closing the parks will not occur until after the special session, and the process of closing the parks could begin in July. Barham said the civil service requires that workers at the facilities receive letters notifying them that they are in a slot that could be impacted by budget cuts. Those letters would likely go out in May.
“We don’t want this to happen,” Barham said. “I am confident the legislature will realize how important these parks are to the state.”
More that 700 people are employed by the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, and 326 of those are employed in the state park system.
Chicot State Park, north of Ville Platte, was added to the state park system in 1939. The park is 6,400 acres and also has a 2,000 acre lake for fishing. The park many amenities including RV camping, tent camping, rental cabins, pavilions, playgrounds, a splash pad and hiking trails. There are 22 people employed at the park.
During the 2014-2015 fiscal year, Chicot State Park reported revenue of $909, 741.62, the highest revenue of the 10 state parks that will remain open. The second-highest earning park was Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville, and that park reported $784,315.
While Chicot had the highest revenue, Fontainebleau State Park had the most visitors that year with 207,053 people utilizing the facility. Chicot State Park was fourth in the list of most-visited with 121,359 guests.

John “Big John” Deshotel Sr. has spent decades giving a helping hand to the residents of Evangeline Parish.
The Ville Platte native, and longtime Reddell resident, has served as a deputy in the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office for nearly two decades, and volunteered a good portion of his time escorting funerals, parades and helping out with other benefits across the parish.
“He was just so good to the community,” Deshotel’s sister Merlene Thibodeaux said. “He always volunteered to do the funerals. He was always helping.”
The communities that he has proudly aided for so many years are now looking to give back to the now 71-year-old with a fund raiser this Saturday sponsored by Tiger Trax & Employees. Po-Boys served with chips and a drink will be sold for $6 starting at 10 a.m. across the street from the Y-Not-Stop in Ville Platte.
The money raised Saturday will be given to Deshotel and his family to help pay for the chemotherapy and other medical procedures the well-liked deputy is currently going through in his fight against cancer. Deshotel has Stage 3 Stomach Cancer and secondary cancer in his lymph nodes and started chemotherapy treatment this week.
Deshotel’s daughter Amanda Taylor says she and her family will feel blessed no matter how much money is raised this Saturday.
“If it is $25 or $50, it doesn’t matter to us,” Taylor said. “We are going to be appreciative no matter what the amount is.”
In a written statement provided to The Gazette, EPSO expressed how honored they have been to have Deshotel as a deputy.
“Deputy John “Big John” Deshotel Sr. has been serving with the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office for 15-plus years under the administrations of Sheriff Wayne Morein and Sheriff Eddie Soileau as a part-time patrolmen and head of the Department’s Motorcycle Division. Deputy Deshotel serves this department with faithfulness, and has selflessly devoted many hours of volunteer services with the agency. Deputy Deshotel is a man of character, knowledge, and devotion, and is the true definition of a true Public Servant. Sheriff Eddie Soileau and staff feel fortunate and privileged to have such a valuable asset in Deputy John “Big John” Deshotel Sr. serving this agency.”
Deshotel, a Ville Platte High grad and father of six, began this week receiving his chemotherapy treatments in Crowley, while also traveling to Lafayette for radium treatment.
Despite his current health battle, Deshotel’s spirits remain high according to those closest to him.
“We saw him on Sunday and he was happy,” Thibodeaux said. “He didn’t look too discouraged at all.”
Added Taylor, “It just bothers him that he can’t go to work. He really wants to go to work. We have had to tell him that ‘daddy you can’t work right now.’”

Assistant District Attorney and counsel for the Communications Board Nicole Gil addressed a crowded police jury room on Monday about the changes being made to how 911 calls and non-emergency calls will be handled from now on in Evangeline Parish.
In attendance at the meeting were individuals representing Pine Prairie, Turkey Creek, Chataignier, Mamou, Ville Platte, Bayou Chicot, St. Landry, Lone Pine, Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office, and Ward 5 Fire District. Also at the meeting were 911 board members.
Over the years, the Evangeline Parish Sheriff has dispatched for local municipalities in the parish such as: Pine Prairie, Turkey Creek, and Chataignier. This task however, will no longer be the sheriff’s responsibility.
Because the sheriff will no longer be providing these services to local municipalities, these entities, according to Gil, will be required to enter an “intergovernmental agreement” if they wish to receive dispatching services from 911 for non-emergency calls.
For Pine Prairie, Turkey Creek, and Chataignier this service will be provided for a fee of $100 a month if the municipalities choose to enter into the intergovernmental agreement.
If the fire districts wish to receive dispatching services from 911, they will be required to pay 1.5% of their annual millage tax to be provided the service.
For the fire districts, this agreement is subject to change after one year.
“Sixty days prior to this agreement being up, we will look at the data to see what it cost to dispatch for fire districts,” said Gil. “That is data that we do not have, which makes it hard to determine what the cost should be. After one year however, we would have a better idea of the cost.”
Each group represented at the meeting was informed that the deadline for the agreements to be signed by each entities’ board is June 6, 2016.
At the June 6th Evangeline Parish Police Jury Meeting, the jurors will then have to approve the intergovernmental agreement.
Even after everything is approved, dispatching may not begin immediately.
911 Director Liz Hill informed the individuals at the meeting that because her office would now be dispatching for law enforcement, they had to request National Crime Information Center (NCIC) computer equipment.
According to Hill, “NCIC approval could take up to six months, but the federal government has put us on the fast-track to obtaining the NCIC computer equipment that we need.”
All parties involved seemed eager to finally have the issue of dispatching resolved, and for that reason police juror Eric Soileau said, “If we get all of the signed agreements back before the June meeting, the police jury can call a special meeting to have everything approved as soon as possible.”
Official dispatching will begin once the NCIC computer equipment has been approved and integrated into the Computer-aided Dispatch (CAD) system at 911’s new location.

TURKEY CREEK -- Frank Butler has already made plans for this summer, and it is all about expansion.
The owner of Gobble Gully Paintball, which specializes in low-impact paintball, is already in the process of adding attractions to his 30 acres of property nestled in the woods outside of Turkey Creek.
A year-and-half removed from the facility’s grand opening, Butler is looking to add a small water park this year.
“It will be a countrified water park,” Butler said. “We don’t want just a concrete slab where kids will overheat. We want something different here.”
The 54-year-old Turkey Creek native has already had Ardoin Architecture LLC out of Opelousas produce an artist rendering of what the park will look like. The park, which will be located on 10 acres featuring three large hills, will feature a water slide, a community pool, a splash pad and a lazy river that will wound itself around and through the water park.
Butler, who also owns and operates Butler Tree Service, anticipates beginning construction on the park within the next two months. Right now he is waiting for the engineers to finalize drawing up the plans for approval. That will determine which portion of the park will be constructed first.
“We don’t want to wait 10 years to have our water park,” Butler said.
Even though his paintball park hasn’t even been open two years, Butler wants to build on its success by providing his paintball players with something they and their families can both enjoy.
“This way you can play paintball and then go over and jump in the lazy river for some instant cool down relief,” Butler said. “We know how hot it gets here in the dead of summer. So my thinking is if we provide them a place to cool off then they will play more paintball.”
Butler expects to add to his staff, which stands now at 14, with the additional water park and also promises that the same Christian rules (no cursing, no drinking acholol and no smoking) enforced at the paintball facility will carry over to the water park.
The water park expansion is only one part of Butler’s larger plans for this year and 2017.
Butler has already cleared out the land for seven more paintball fields and is looking to convert those seven fields into special theme fields. For example, one field will have old farm equipment for a farming theme, while another will have old pump jacks for an oil field theme.
Butler also plans to build camper sites on the property and a large pavilion and picnic area to make the entire area a weekend destination.
Butler said, “We want this to become a place people come and stay and visit again and again.”

The Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office reported 31 recent bookings into the parish jail. Arrested were the following persons:
•Nicholas Soileau, 19, 157 Balfa Lane, Eunice, was arrested on March 22, 2016 for encouraging child delinquency (two counts). Soileau was released from jail on a $10,000.00 bond.
•Jaret Tracey Reed, 20, 3120 Acorn Road, Ville Platte, was arrested on March 22, 2016 for simple possession of marijuana. Reed was released from jail on a $5,000.00 bond.
•Markus Trent Burnett, 26, 141 Dibblebobb Road, Glenmora, was arrested on March 22, 2016 for possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of Schedule II (oxycodone). Burnett was released from jail on a $40,000.00 bond.
•Paul Harvey III, 27, 119 Oilfield Road, Glenmora, was arrested on March 22, 2016 for possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of Schedule II (oxycodone) and Schedule II (crystal meth). Harvey’s bond was set at $55,000.00.
•Corey Lee Williams, 33, 118 Fitzgerald Street, Lafayette, was arrested on March 22, 2016 for theft of utilities. Williams was released from jail on a $7,500.00 bond.
•Brandon Paul Freeman, 28, 1103 West Hickory Street, Ville Platte, was arrested on March 24, 2016, for unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling and theft. Freeman’s bond was set at $20,000.00.
•Antonio Jermoq Edwards, 37, 316 West DeSoto Street, Ville Platte, was arrested on March 23, 2016 for failure to register as a sex offender. Edwards’ bond was set at $2,062.00.
•Lashaunda Renee Patin, 27, 2388 Woodmen Drive, Ville Platte, was arrested on March 26, 2016 for domestic abuse. Patin was released from jail on a $5,000.00 bond.
•Douglas Keith Fontenot, 17, 4104 Chataignier Street, Ville Platte was arrested on March 24, 2016 for unauthorized use of a moveable and prohibited acts (drug paraphernalia). Fontenot was released from jail on a $9,000.00 bond.
•James Travis O’Connor, 27, 3429 St. Landry Highway, St. Landry, was arrested on March 27, 2016 for public intimidation. O’Connor was released from jail on a $1,500.00 bond.
•John Vicent Phillips, 38, 2388 Woodmen Drive, Ville Platte, was arrested on March 25, 2016 for domestice abuse. Phillips was released from jail on a $5,000.00 bond.
•Cammie Devonna Deville, 47, 1033 Panther Road, Ville Platte, was arrested on March 26, 2016 for possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of Schedule II (meth), possession of Schedule IV (Xanax) and simple obstruction of roadway. Deville was released from jail on a $20,000.00 bond.
•Scott Calvin Aucoin Jr., 20, 7768 Highway 167 North, Turkey Creek, was arrested on March 26, 2016 for unauthorized use of a moveable and criminal trespass. Aucoin was released for jail on a $5,000.00 bond.
•Bethany Balla Phillips, 36, 1141 Dove Crossing Road, Ville Platte, was arrested on March 27, 2016 for suspended for DWI, careless operation and DWI (second offense). Phillips was released from jail on a $5,000.00 bond.
•Fontella May Malveaux, 29, 1317 Cherry Street, Mamou, was arrested on March 27, 2016 for simple burglary and criminal damage to property (two counts). Malveaux’s bond was set at $20,000.00.
•Rodney Freeman Jr., 60, 616 South Soileau Street, Ville Platte, was arrested on March 28, 2016 for simple burglary. Freeman’s bond was set at $45,000.00.
•Preston Conrad Cason, 17, 1051 Gautreaux Lane, Ville Platte, was arrested on April 4, 2016 for theft over $750.00 (three counts). Cason’s bond was set at $20,000.
•Danny Joseph Chambless, 40, 2109 Lang Road, Magnolia, Mississippi, was arrested on March 30, 2016 for criminal damage to property, criminal trespassing and home invasion. Chambless was released from jail on a $35,000.00 bond.
•Nigel Demekus Fontenot, 20, 1069 Robert F. Kennedy Street, Ville Platte, was arrested on March 30, 2016 for possession of Schedule II CDS (cocaine), resisting an officer, resisting an officer with force or violence and battery on a police officer. Fontenot’s bond was set at $37,500.00.
•Danny Charles Hipps, 55, 3478 St. Landry Highway, Ville Platte, was arrested on March 30, 2016 for criminal trespass and disturbing the peace by public intoxication. Hipps’ bond was set at $10,000.00.
•Lisa Marie Johnson, 40, 268 Highway 1179, Cottonport, was arrested on March 31, 2016 for DWI (first offense), careless operation and open container. Johnson was released from jail on a $1,800.00 bond.
•Matthew Ross Willis, 23, 1155 Jeanus Road, Ville Platte, was arrested on March 31, 2016 for criminal damage to property. Willis was released from jail on a $50,000.00 bond.
•Antonio Jermoq Edwards, 37, 316 West DeSoto Street, Ville Platte, was arrested on March 23, 2016 for failure to pay annual registration fee, failure to obtain a state id card and failure to notify change of address. Edwards’ bond was set at $27,000.00.
•Lance Taylor Duplechain, 24, 207 Maple Avenue, Mamou, was arrested on April 1, 2016 for resisting an officer (two counts), simple burglary, criminal trespassing and simple posession (Schedule I) and theft.Duplechain was released from jail on a $25,000.00 bond.
•Shawn Mitchel Hebert, 20, 820 Ninth Street, Mamou, was arrested on April 1, 2016 criminal trespassing, theft and simple burglary. Hebert’s bond was set at $25,000.00.
•Casey Faul, 25, 319 East Pine Street, Ville Platte, was arrested on April 2, 2016 for DWI (third offense), resisting an officer, reckless operation, no seatbelt, texting while driving and distribution/manufacturing of CDS marijuana.
•Misty Austin Litchfield, 29, 28272 Berry Patch Road, Picayune, Mississippi, was arrested on April 2, 2016 for child endangerment (two counts), careless operation and DWI (first offense). Litchfield was released from jail on a $1,500.00 bond.
•Roy Lee Vercher, 32, 1270 Happy Hollow Road, Ville Platte, was arrested on April 3, 2016 for aggravated assault. Vercher’s bond was set at $5,000.00.
•Shanda Delonne Brown, 49, 1026 Three Sisters Road, Ville Platte, was arrested on April 3, 2016 for forgery and disturbing the peace while intoxicated. Brown was released from jail on a $25,000.00 bond.
•Elisha Genaro Davis Jr., 27, 1052 Kate Street, Ville Platte, was arrested on April 3, 20`6 for domestic abuse battery and battery of the infirm. Davis’ bond was set at $10,000.00.
•Tuggy James Fontenot, 21, 216 Lithcote Road, Ville Platte, was arrested on April 3, 2016 for taking of contraband to/from a penal institution. Fontenot’s bond was set at $15,000.00.Stacey M. Fontenot, 47, 515 Prejean Rd., Carencro, was arrested on February 11, 2016 for aggravated battery. Fontenot was released from jail on a $75,000.00 bond.

•A big “Thank You” is extended to Pine Prairie Energy for being a Summer Reading sponsor again this year!
•The Evangeline Genealogical and Historical Society will meet on Saturday, April 16th @ 9:30 am in the Multipurpose Room of the main library in Ville Platte. The public is invited to hear their guest speakers, John Ledoux and Margaret Briley, who will talk about the Orphan Train Museum and share some of the stories about the children who arrived in Evangeline Parish.
•The Mystery Book Club will meet on Wednesday, April 20th @ 10:30 am to discuss their March Choice, Body Double by Tess Gerritsen. (Note: This is one week earlier than usual.)
•Closing notice: The main library and all branches will be closed on Wednesday, April 27th for an all staff training workshop.
•For our Audiobook lovers from around the parish, these just arrived: The Widow by Fiona Barton, Flawless by Heather Graham, Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben, Priceless by Sherryl Woods, Where the Memories Lie by Sibel Hodge, Darkness by Karen Robards, Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen, The Lake House by Kate Morton, Blood, Salt, Water by Denise Mina, Corrupted by Lisa Scottonline, You by Caroline Kepnes, and After She’s Gone by Lisa Jackson.
•For more information about Library programs and services, please call 363-1369, the branch nearest you or visit our website at www.evangelinelibrary.org. Thank you for supporting your library; libraries change lives!

MAMOU — If an up-and-coming Cajun French musician has a desire to take the stage and hear applause coming from the audience, Grammy-winning musician Steve Riley has a simple piece of advice for those youngsters to follow.
Make sure to earn the respect of those that reside in the birthplace of that beloved music -- Louisiana.
“Some of the most magical memories I have are playing here,” said Riley, who has shot to fame with his band Steve Riley and The Mamou Playboys. “There’s no better energy than that. It is so great to see young and old hanging on to every note. If you can pass the test of the people down here then you are on your way. Those people know the business better than anyone else.”
Riley and his band mates return to Evangeline Parish this Friday as the band will be performing at this year’s Le Grand Hoorah! at Chicot State Park. Riley and the band will play from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“Having been raised in Mamou and hanging around Evangeline Parish most of my life has made me who I am today,” Riley said.
Riley began his musical career as a teenager as he was taken under the wing of the late Cajun fiddler and singer Dewey Balfa. Riley would spend years performing with the local legend, as he would develop his own skills as a musician and performer.
“Dewey was like John Lennon to me,” Riley said. “I met him and started playing as his substitute accordionist. My mom was the principal at Mamou High and I missed plenty of Fridays for those long weekends performing. Dewey was like my grandfather to me. He spent a lot of times telling me stories, he was a genuine great guy.”
During those years with Balfa, Riley learned a multitude of things about performing, touring and the grind of the road but there was one thing that Balfa taught him that made the most lasting impression.
“The way he spoke and presented himself made a big impression on me,” Riley said. “It’s just not about getting up there and playing music. He said you have to educate those people about who we are and where we’re from. You should be proud of be part of this culture. It is who you are.”
Riley would go on to promote the Cajun culture with a hugely successful career of his own. Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys was formed in 1988 and has gone on to release 14 albums and become one of the most popular Cajun French bands of the modern era.
The band has been nominated twice for Grammys in the Best Traditional Folk Album category for “Trace of Time” and “Bon Rêve.” Riley won a Grammy for Best Regional Roots Music Album for his work with The Band Courtbouillon, which also consists of regional musicians Wayne Toups and Wilson Savoy.
“I have been doing this for 30 years,” said Riley, who is working on a Christmas record to be released later this year. “The playing in front of people is the easy part. The touring and managing part can be tough. It is grind and a constant hustle but the positives outweigh the negatives. We would not have had the experiences of playing in Russia, Australia, Europe or Japan if it wasn’t for the music.”
For Riley, taking the stage every other night is extremely cathartic.
“Playing music is like the best therapy you can have,” Riley said. “I can be in a bad mood or a sad mood. Once I get on stage and play music with the guys by the third song in, even if it takes that long, I feel great. The reception of the audience never fails.”
In the past year or so, Riley’s audience has gotten younger on occasion, much younger in fact.
That’s because Riley has begun teaching music camps at schools across Acadiana.
“It has been met with great response,” Riley said. “I am really loving it. To sit down with a group of kids that are focused and begin to excel at playing music is an amazing process. It is rejuvenating.
“I am just filling a void. There should be more people doing what I am doing.”
Even though Riley now lives in Scott, returning home to Evangeline Parish where he and his band cut their teeth at such clubs as Snooks and Rumors is something that he is grateful for.
“It is has been a blessing on many levels,” Riley said. “We are very fortunate to have a home base like this that is this passionate about the music we love.”

MAMOU — The French game of Petanque is one that Al Guarisco said “has been kept a secret,” until now.
According to Al’s wife Arlette, Petanque is a game that “people play during vacation in France,” and it was while on vacation in her native country that her husband, who is from Thibodeaux, first discovered Petanque, and his desire to bring it back to the United States.
In their quest to make Petanque widely known in the U.S., the Guariscos will be traveling to Evangeline Parish for Le Grand Hoorah this coming weekend at Chicot State Park to demonstrate this unique game to festival goers.
“This isn’t a spectator sport, so I am anticipating having people wanting to play,” said Al. “If someone is watching, I’ll probably just hand them a ball and tell them to play with us. People want to play after they watch others.”
While the concept of this game is simple, winning can be a challenge, which instantly hooks you after your first throw of the metal ball towards a smaller ball called a cochonnet, which means piglet in French.
The player who will be tossing their metal balls or boules first, stands in a ring on the ground and throws the cochonnet at least six meters from where they are standing.
Once the cochonnet has landed in its spot, each player then takes turns throwing their boules from the same spot that the cochonnet was thrown from.
To throw the boule, a player grips the metal ball between their palm and four fingers. Al said, “Try to grip the ball without using your thumb, and throw it with the ball facing towards the ground.”
The object of the game is to have your boule land the closest to the cochonnet on the dirt court.
At the end of each round the closest boule to the cochonnet is identified, and that team is given one point.
For every ball that team has closest to the cochonnet, they are rewarded one point per ball.
So for example, if your team has the closest ball to the cochonnet, and then you have the next two closest balls, you will earn three points that round.
The winning team at the end of each round is the only team that is able to receive points.
After each round, the winning team gets to toss the cochonnet to a new spot, and the game continues until a team reaches 13 points.
The game can be played one on one, two on two, or three on three, and according to Arlette, “it’s always more fun to play with a team.”
If you are playing two on two, or three on three, then you will always have the opportunity to receive six points because there will be six boules thrown by each team.
However, if you are playing one on one, then you only have the opportunity to earn three points, because each person will throw three balls.
What makes the game even more fun according to the Guariscos is the fact that anyone can play.
Al said, “You can be in a wheelchair and play this game. That’s what makes this game great, anyone can learn how to play, and enjoy it.”
According to the Guariscos, Petanque also provides people with a fun way to spend time with their family.
Al said, “When we were in France one year for Father’s Day my son asked me what I wanted as a gift, and I told him I wanted him to come play in a Petanque tournament with me.”
Arlette then added, “That was a very special moment for Al. To have our son Jeremy there playing with us meant a lot to him.”
Now, the Guariscos are bringing Petanque to Evangeline, and according to Al, “Once people have the opportunity to see the game being played, and taste it, they won’t be able to get enough of it.”

Dear Editor,

I am the aunt of Samuel Anderson (Sam) who was found guilty ... by a jury. Some say I should not have associated myself with such a person on national television. Ouch! After receiving strange looks by a few, it reminds me that there are judges outside of the legal system. You only heard a portion of my story from television, so let me present my case for the sake of my friends, others who were kind enough to speak with me directly and not misjudge me and for those who seek to live by God’s word.
It is my time to endure the critics and criticisms. The best book tells me that there will be good days and there will be bad days, but every day is the day that The Lord has made and He tells us to rejoice and be glad in it!
I continually send my condolences to Ms. Ann’s family. No one has the right to take anybody’s life - Rich, Poor, Black, White, Latino, etc. Every victim deserves justice. Situations such as fleeing to Mexico or paying off the decease’s family should never be an acceptable method to escape punishment for taking anyone’s life.
I was asked IF I think Samuel Anderson is guilty. IF I had said no, I would have been judged because of my relationship to Sam; IF I had said yes then I would have heightened the minds of those who do believe he is and join those who allow injustice based on a homemade case rather than irrefutable evidence. However, here is my response! Given that a person’s life is turned into the hands of people, a decision of that magnitude should never be left to an opinion. It should be left to indisputable “EVIDENCE!” One of the statements I made on national television is that we were hoping for a different verdict, and I made that statement based on the lack of evidence presented against Sam.
State’s Evidence - A confession statement from Sam, and though test(s) showed he was under the influence, state says he knew what he was saying.
Defense’s argument: Test(s) showed he was under the influence that caused imprecise thinking and he was coerced into giving a confession statement.
I can understand that it is a normal tactic to lie to suspects in an attempt to gain the truth, but to camouflage that one can be in a right frame of mind under the influence is a bit much to buy into. I cannot relate because I have zero experience with illegal drug use. However, I do believe that a medical degree is not required to know that IF you put the wrong thing into your body, then expect a negative effect. When he was arrested, I was startled by his demeanor that looked atrocious and it spelled out under the influence.
State’s Evidence - The murder weapon was found in Sam’s backpack.
Defense’s Argument/Common Sense: Sam was apprehended in Kinder, LA as a murder suspect. His bag was searched for “safety” reasons, however, the claim was that it was not thoroughly searched, if the state lies to get the truth from suspects and it’s accepted (understandably so), then why wasn’t a murder suspect’s bag thoroughly searched to gain the truth. The truth which would show that the murder weapon was in Sam’s possession before he arrived to Evangeline Parish. That would have been a pretty solid piece of evidence!
Assistant DA Marcus Fontenot screams out to the court audience and reminds them that I am Sam’s aunt and I did not contact the police department to investigate a possible suspect in this case. Members of the police department watch the same videos I watched and I cooperated to the fullest extent of the law.
His statement goes against good judgment! Wouldn’t I have been happy to contact the PD to tell them about a possible suspect other than Sam? Don’t assume I was the lawyer trying this case. It was my job to cooperate and let the authorities do their jobs. Someone failed to do their job Mr. Assistant DA, but it wasn’t me.
Why not resort to DNA which dates back to as early as 1923 and used widely as late as 1985? It’s a gift that is exonerating so many innocent people who have been cut off from their families and society for years for crimes they never committed. In a sense, they are given a pat on the back and told - oops, by the way DNA evidence proven your innocence, return to your family, get a job because now we have the guilty person behind bars.
We were not fighting for Sam IF he committed the crime, we were simply asking the State to give him a fair trial and present their case based on the evidence that would unmistakably prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed the crime. That’s law in America!
My family (siblings) and I would be at peace and have accepted the verdict. I believe We ARE ALL AGAINST CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES! I definitely know I am!
This was not a cold case! But even in cold cases DNA evidence is one of the best evidence that provides the truth generally without question. Not even the old method of fingerprinting was utilized. Wow! What another crucial piece of solid evidence that would have proven “without a doubt!” I do endure sorrow for the victim’s family. Does anyone ever stop to think about the family of the accused? WE do not have closure! Understand - that although some guilty parties somehow escape being prosecuted and punished and some who are in authority allow it, there is One who knows all and sees all - His name is JESUS!
IF it is true that Samuel Anderson killed Ms. Ann, then he like every other criminal should be prosecuted and sentenced in accordance with the law. But there are more of us who are guilty. We sit in high authority and allow unrighteousness acts to consistently plaque our communities that lead to so many criminal acts upon other human beings.
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin! James 4:17
To those who look at me strangely and don’t want to be around me because I’m associated with those you look down upon - KEEP LOOKING! People with the same level of thinking criticized Jesus who was without fault. Who did Jesus associate Himself with - sinners, whom does He say He came to see about? Be a living Bible and not your degrees or high social status or political connections. Someone said we cannot save all of them. I say we cannot save any, but we can provide them with the services, guidance and direction to which they can make their own choice to be saved by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! IF one is saved, remember the angels in Heaven rejoice! What about us?

Evangeline Parish Sheriff Eddie Soileau released a statement Monday regarding the recent arrest of Mamou Police Officer Christopher Ryan Lemaire.
On Friday April 1, 2016, Mamou Police Chief Allen Noel contacted the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division for assistance with the misconduct of a police officer.
Chief Noel stated that on Friday, April 1, 2016 Mamou Police Officer Lemaire conducted a traffic stop at the intersection of Martin Luther King and 6th Street in Mamou.
During Lemaire’s traffic stop he received a verbal consent from the driver to search the vehicle.
Lemaire located an ounce of Marijuana and a bong. He confiscated the drug and paraphernalia.
Lemaire then discarded the evidence prematurely without authorization before processing it as evidence.
The driver admitted to the possession of both items found, but no arrest was made.
After a thorough and complete investigation, a Warrant of Arrest and Affidavit was authored by Evangeline parish Sheriff’s Office. The warrant was then signed by 13th Judicial Judge Chuck West with a bond set at $25,000.00.
Lemaire was arrested and booked into the Evangeline Parish Jail on the charges of malfeasance in office.
Lemaire has been released from jail on bond.