Chamber hears of heritage week possibilities in 2015

During the monthly Ville Platte Chamber of Commerce meeting Monday, November 18, Winky Aucoin confirmed the Dewey Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage Week will not be held at Chicot State Park in 2014.
However, he said he is trying to get people to “come together” to organize an event at Chicot Park in 2014 and to take part in a campaign to bring back the heritage week festivities in 2015.
He said there are no members from Evangeline Parish on the Louisiana Folk Roots Board, which is based in Vermillionville and where the 2014 heritage week festivities will be held. He said lack of membership on the board was at least part of the reason for the move from Chicot Park to Vermillionville.
He asked chamber members to support a letter-writing campaign to the Louisiana Folk Roots Board to show how much interest there is in and around Ville Platte to bring the Dewey Balfa festival back to Chicot Park in 2015.
Meanwhile, Aucoin said he is gathering support and ideas about an event that could take place next year at Chicot Park.
Guest speakers during this month’s chamber meeting included one current and two past members of the KVPI radio station crew.
Office Manager Mark Layne talked about the station’s 60th anniversary celebration Friday at the station. The celebration will include an all-day open house, a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m., refreshments, prizes and a DJ reunion.
He asked people who attend the event to bring canned food items the station can donate to Christian Care and Share.
Layne said parking will be available next to the Citizens Bank parking lot, in a vacant lot across the street from the radio station, and crossing guards will assist visitors cross the street.
Layne introduced two former station employees, the station’s first engineer, Dr. J.S. Fontenot, and Jim Soileau, who began working at the station in March, 1954. The two reminisced about the early days of KVPI.
Layne described how the current owners of the station are committed to programming that is community oriented.
The other guest speaker at the chamber meeting was John Mayeux and his son David. They described reasons they recently reorganized and now represent LPL Financial, the nation’s largest independent brokerage service, in order to offer more services to customers.
In other chamber business:
•Executive Director Camille Fontenot said she is lining up more participants for the Christmas parade, which will be December 8, at 5:30 p.m. She said she is also lining up groups to take part in events at the same time as the parade.
•Fontenot announced Ardoin’t Funeral Home will have a ribbon cutting ceremony December 3, at 4 p.m., in recognition of their 75 year in business.
•Fontenot also announced the annual chamber social will be December 4, at 5:30 p.m. at La Vieille Banque.
•Donald Bergeron, Evangeline Parish Police Jury secretary/treasurer, said the police jury’s annual French meeting will be on December 10, at 2 p.m.