Saddled up saviors

There is a group of people who are a part of the sheriff’s crew that has a unique history and mission of serving the community. This group is called the Sheriff’s Mounted Posse of Evangeline Parish, and they have turned their goal into helping the children of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The sheriff’s posse has been holding a trail ride for the past 14 years as a way of benefitting the hospital and has raised a total of $139,188.00. This year alone the posse raised $20,188.00.
Daniel Fruge serves as captain of the posse and takes pride in the group’s achievements with the trail ride over the years. “It actually means a lot having this group of guys right here to stick with you at your side and put this amazing trail ride together,” he said. “Everybody pulls their load, and we have different people coming in and doing different things. It’s awesome to see a small group like this from a small community generate so much money in a day.”
“We have people from all over Texas and from South Louisiana who come,” said posse member Jedd LaFleur. “Now this year we had some toward the Alexandria area, from Mississippi, and from all over coming in. It goes to show how much it’s spread in 14 years.”
LaFleur then shared a testimonial on the importance of benefitting St. Jude’s. “Personally, my godchild went to St. Jude’s,” he explained. “A lot of my family members from the medical field went there and saw how awesome it is and said the people are even better than the facilities. It’s all first class top of the line stuff.”
“It’s been 10 or close to 15 years since my little godchild was there, and she just graduated pharmacy school,” he continued. “It just goes to show how they come out alright after all the battles they fight.”
“What sticks with me is we had children from St. Jude’s that actually came and spoke to us,” added Secretary-Treasurer Alvin Rachal. “They gave witness testimony of how good St. Jude’s is, and these children are living today because of St. Jude’s.”
When the sheriff posse is not involved in the St. Jude’s Trail Ride, it assists the sheriff in such ways as searching for escaped convicts, lost kids, crowd control, and rescuing drowning victims.
“The sheriff’s posse is an organization that more or less helps with whatever the sheriff needs,” said Lieutenant David LaFleur.
“The sheriff’s posse started as a horse riding group,” Rachal explained. “Then in 1960 Sheriff Bruce Soileau decided he needed these horsemen to be backup for his force because of their skills riding horses and for search and rescues, and thus every sheriff has one in his plan because he has 20 people at his beck and call for back up or assistance to add to his staff. That’s a big difference when they’re in a bad situation.”
LaFleur is one of the current 19 posse members who has been serving the longest. He started back when Floyd Soileau was sheriff. The other longest serving member is Stephen “Buffy” Guillory, who has been serving since 1976 under Elin Pitre. “I was too young to be deputized,” Buffy said. “You had to be 18, but they took me in at 17.”
“You could walk in there with a speeding ticket, and he would tell you to leave it there because he’d take care of it,” Buffy said about the kind of sheriff Elin Pitre was. “Ramson Vidrine then went to all state troopers. He took all the retired state troopers out of Troop K and put them back to work, and that was a disaster. You couldn’t walk in the front door unless you had an appointment. When you’d call the office, nobody would answer the phone.”
“We got a call one day to go way over there to Turkey Creek,” Buffy continued. “We get over there, and nobody saddled up ready. They said we couldn’t go into the woods until Red Vidrine got there because Colonel Red was moving a house, and he was gonna be there after while. I said I was gonna go look for that woman that’s lost or loading up and going back home. Everybody followed me into the woods. An hour later we came out with the woman.”
As for the current crop, being on the sheriff’s posse means different things for different people. “It means being able to help the community and backing up the sheriff at their beck and call,” Rachal said. “I’m willing to do whatever the sheriff needs, and I feel good about helping the community.”
“It’s something I grew up around as a kid,” said one of the younger members Jeret Daigle. “I always said I was going to get in. I actually got in when I was of age and enjoyed something that I grew up always wanting to do to help the community.”
Another one of the younger members is board member T. J. Campbell. “We have a lot of people who come and want to be a member,” he said. “I know whenever I started it was hard. I was on the list for like three years before I could become a member, and I would go to these functions and help out. I just wanted everybody to get to know me and know what kind of person I am. It’s a privilege to be out there.”
The sheriff posse is made up of the usual cast of characters who fit a Western type of lifestyle, but it also has a few “city boys” like Jedd LaFleur who bring something different to the table.
“I grew up in the city, and until I had my own house after college and was able to fence in my neighbor’s property and keep it up for him, I never owned a horse,” he said. “My uncle had horses. I always wanted one, so once I had one I started doing the Tournoi and trail rides. I had great times even to the point of buying a horse without even seeing a horse at the auction.”
“It’s very easy to get the job done with the group of guys that we have,” Nick Buller said. “It’s easy to do the job with the group we have because nobody is scared to jump in with both feet and both hands.”
According to Fruge, “It’s just great to see sons follow in their father’s footsteps into the posse. It’s amazing, and it’s a beautiful thing to keep it in the family.” Jeret Daigle is the son of board member Ralph Daigle, and David LaFleur had both of his sons Travis and Cody on the posse at one time. The latter is still currently a member.
Fruge then reflected on what it means to serve as captain for the last 10 years. “The captain is to support these guys and whatever they need,” he said. “I don’t look at myself as a captain. I look at myself as a teammate with the rest of the guys. I know we have superiors and so on, but with this group of guys everybody is the same. Everybody pulls their load, and nobody needs to be re-instructed on what to do. It’s very easy to be a captain on this team.”
All of this teamwork in Fruge’s mind leads to a successful trail ride for St. Jude’s. “We donated $20 grand this year,” he said. “We think it’s a lot, but when you hear it takes $1 million a day to run this facility, it makes you think my little $20 grand we raised is nothing. When we talk to the people with St. Jude and tell them what we’re sending in, they’re just like wow it’s amazing.”