Mrs. Chamber

Camille Fontenot has a passion for Ville Platte.
Fontenot said, “I love Ville Platte. It’s my home. I was brought up here. I know a little bit about everything here. I know almost every family. My husband is my high school sweetheart.
“I love people, and I’ve got a great love for Ville Platte. I hope never to leave here.”
In the last 10 years, Fontenot has used her knowledge of all things Ville Platte to lead the Ville Platte Chamber of Commerce. Fontenot graduated from Sacred Heart High School in 1966 and then continued her education with a degree from Louisiana State University. After working in the parish’s education system, teaching at schools including her alma mater, Bayou Chicot and Ville Platte Lower and serving as counselor at South Louisiana Community College Coreil Campus, Fontenot retired in 2005 and took a year off.
While teaching and counseling, Fontenot was active in the community with the Jaycees and the social sorority Beta Sigma Phi. She sang with the Cotton Pickers in her youth, and she later served as director of the Cotton Pickers for 20 years. Fontenot also played the organ at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
In early 2007, she applied for the job of chamber executive director, and she will soon celebrate her 10 year anniversary with the organization.
“I am proud of the chamber meetings — they have grown,” Fontenot said. “We are getting more participation from our family of businesses in the area.”
“We have also reached out to more businesses about tourism, and we have received grants that were shared with smaller communities for tourism.”
In the last year, Fontenot and her staff have also added a meeting room to the chamber building.
Fontenot said she would like to see more places in the City of Ville Platte and around the parish to host events.
She said, “We want young people to come to the community and stay, and we are looking to Eunice and Opelousas to see how they do things. They have places to eat and such. We’d like to have (at least) one or two places to sit down and have a nice meal.
“We are working on getting more people to the area to stay in our hotels, like Hotel Cazan in Mamou, and visit places like Chicot State Park,” Fontenot said.
The chamber also contributes to the areas festivals and fairs.
“Bayou Chicot and Turkey Creek are growing their Christmas festivities,” Fontenot said. “In Ville Platte, we now have our Christmas lights, thanks to the mayor. The Smoked Meat Festival has grown, too.”
Fontenot said she would like to see more young people get involved in the community as well as increase chamber’s membership.
“I want more people to join the chamber and see how we can help them and get them involved in business and business openings and anniversaries. We want to keep people above board.”
Looking into the new year, Fontenot said the chamber is working to host the first of its kind event in Ville Platte next fall.
“It’s hot off the press – we are planning an extravaganza that will bring the big city to Ville Platte,” she said. “It will be an big event with dinner and music. We’ve never had event like this here before.
“We’ll be getting the wheels turning after the first of the year.”