VP Rotary: New members introduce themselves

In lieu of a guest speaker, Rotarians Patricia Duplechin and Clem LaFleur presented their member classification talks during the January 18, meeting of the Ville Platte Rotary Club.
Duplechin is a native of Ville Platte and married to Archie Duplechin, a retired brick layer. They have three children, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She worked as a substitute teacher for several years, as well as a crawfish processing plant, until she and her family moved to Georgia when the economy went down in the 1980s. While in Georgia, she opened and ran her own day care for many years.
After returning home to Ville Platte, she became aware of the nursing and began working at Heritage Manor in 1996. She started at the bottom and worked her way up under the guidance and training of then Activity Director June Hadley, the role Duplechin currently holds at the facility.
Duplechin stated as activity director, she oversees the activities of all the residents, which is very challenging right with the daily changes in regulations due to the ongoing Covid pandemic. As activity director, she and the staff host resident birthday and holiday parties, do weekly resident shopping, and select employee and resident of the month once a month. In addition, Duplechin writes a column published every Sunday in the Ville Platte Gazette and gives updates on KVPI once a week.
Duplechin has served on the Region III Nursing Home Board for 12 years and is the current president. She is also the current state president. She noted Heritage Manor has hosted the annual Senior Olympics in Lafayette for over 20 years.
In closing, she commended the “out of this world” group of volunteers in the community who give their time to help the residents.
LaFleur stated he grew up around his grandmother and recalls always helping her see about her neighbors. He said he started reading scripture and recalled the passage “love thy neighbor as yourself. He said, “I learned we are all neighbors.” Because of this, LaFleur enjoys working with and for the community, making things happen, both as an affordable housing real estate developer and through his involvement with the Ville Platte Rotary Club.
He was born in Lafayette and grew up in Ville Platte. He is a graduate of Ville Platte High School and worked in electronics. He also worked for Cleco and over 30 years with Centurytel before getting in to real estate. LaFleur is also a member of the East Seventh District Association. He said, “I am blessed with the best family, including Linda, my wife of 47 years, three girls and three grandsons.”
Also during the meeting, Secretary Renee Brown reminded members that a tour of the State Capital in Baton Rouge, followed by lunch at the Pentagon Barracks, will be held Wednesday, April 6, 2022. The tour will begin at 10 a.m., and lunch will follow. Representative Rhonda Butler will host the tour, which is open to members of the Evangeline Parish and St. Landry Parish chambers of commerce, as well as members of the Ville Platte Rotary Club. Brown stated the deadline to register and RSVP via email is March 30, but urged those interested to register as soon as possible.
The next meeting will be held January 25, 2022, with Rotarian Nicole Wenger presenting the program.