Ville Platte Rotary welcomes recent guests

May 27, Meeting
During the May 27, meeting of the Ville Platte Rotary Club, Rotarian Ronnie Landreneau gave an update on the status of the new Evangeline Parish Library building project. He stated the project is taking longer than expected due to the contractor abandoning the project at approximately 97 percent completion. As a result, the library board and Evangeline Parish Police Jury had to follow procedure and go through the process of receiving bids to complete the remainder of the project. Once a new contractor was attained and the majority of the subcontractors stayed on with the project, work resumed to complete the project. Landreneau stated that the majority of the work left to finish is interior and should be complete sometime in mid-June and the process of moving over can begin with an opening date for the new location expected sometime in late summer. Suzy Lemoine with the Evangeline Parish Library also gave an update on the summer reading program, which will host many fun events and guests at all branches throughout the summer. A schedule of events is available at www.evangelinelibrary.org.
June 3, Meeting
Ville Platte Mayor and Rotarian Jennifer Vidrine, during the June 3, meeting of the Ville Platte Rotary Club, read a letter written to the troops by General Dwight D. Eisenhower in remembrance of the 70th anniversary of D-Day. Rotarian Hillery Hill then gave a brief history and update on the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars). Nationally, the VFW currently has 6,982 posts and 1.9 million members. He also noted the state of Louisiana has approximately 14,100 members, with twice that number eligible to enroll. The state also has over 6,000 Auxiliary members for spouses of military veterans. He added that the local Post #3803 has 740 members and is part of District Seven in the state of Louisiana. Hill stated that the VFW will mark its 75th anniversary next June. He said the annual VFW Poppy Drive raises approximately $13 million nationally, which supports the local communities where the drives are held. The monies raised is closely monitored by national and state inspectors to make sure the money is used correctly to help veterans and their families in need. Hill stated the VFW also hosts an annual scholarship program which is open to high school juniors and seniors. The grand prize is $40,000 toward the college of their choice. For elementary students, a drawing contest with a grand prize of $100 is held annually. He said he will soon be receiving information for the next school year’s contest and encouraged teachers and students in Evangeline Parish to participate.
June 10, Meeting
Rotarian Jimmy LeBlanc invited attorney Chuck West to be the guest speaker for the June 10, meeting of the Ville Plate Rotary Club. West discussed the duties of magistrate/mayor’s court. He said that in 1974, the legal codes were rewritten and the mayor of a municipality is automatically appointed as judge with jurisdiction over municipal cases in municipalities with magistrate/mayor’s court. Under the laws, those mayors are subject to follow and uphold judicial law and are required to know and apply the laws. For mayors that don’t have the necessary legal background, an attorney can be appointed to serve as magistrate in their place. Under the laws, the mayor cannot be sued for wrong decision as long as the rules and laws were followed and correctly applied. Also, the accused may appeal to the district court. He stated that because Ville Platte has a city court, it does not also have a magistrate/mayor’s court, but all of the other municipalities in Evangeline Parish utilize this court system to handle the enforcement of municipal ordinances.