Former association president now serves as colonel cotton

By: TONY MARKS
Editor

Born in 1964 to the late Leola “Blondie” and Ellis Derouselle, Patrick Derouselle has been a lifelong resident of Evangeline Parish. Upon graduating from Ville Platte High School, he served as a legislative aide for the Louisiana State legislature from 1984 to 1987. Prior to his current position as the executive director of the Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Commission, he retired with a combined 34 years of service with Louisiana State Parks and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD).
Now, Derouselle is back in the public eye as this year’s Colonel Cotton.
“It’s an honor for sure,” he expressed. “I was totally shocked. “When I think of Colonel Cotton, I think of all the men who built who built our community.”
The title of “Colonel Cotton” was added to the festival royalty in 1960 as a way of honoring people who greatly helped the community through farming, or in business, or civic accomplishments, according to The Louisiana Cotton Festival 1953-1992 by Mary Lynn F. Landreneau. The first Colonel Cotton was Dr. B.A. Soileau who owned a cotton gin.
Derouselle said, These people were prominent businesspeople who started this festival and were involved hands on like Mr. Cliff Wagley, with the fire service, who built floats. When he had his store, they had all of the float decorations and all of that in-house.”
Derouselle has spent much of his life in public service to his community and state. He is presently serving as president of the Evangeline Parish Communications District 9-1-1 Board, of which he has been a member for the past 28 years. In March, he reached his 35th year as a volunteer firefighter and is a captain. For the past 15 years he has served as president of the volunteer department.
He has also been associated with the Louisiana Cotton Festival Board for 37 years and served as its president for 17 years before retiring in 2020.
This year’s Colonel Cotton first got involved with the festival as a parade volunteer. He then took over the parade for about three years and helped guide the Cotton Festival through uncertain times.
“It was a big battle, but we got it,” Derouselle remarked. “It’s still there, thank God, because it was curtains at that point because there was no money.”
He went on to say, “The people were angry. Their were bills that weren’t paid. We had to go and put all of those fires out, and we did. It just took a lot of people who committed their time and who said either we succeed or it’s done. We even took money out of our pockets to try to feed the queens because we had nothing in the bank.”
Then, as president, one of Derouselle’s greatest accomplishments was moving the fair back to the city park from its location on the Whiteville Road (La. Hwy 29).
“I went meet the mayor at the time and said if I can’t bring the carnival back to the city park then we’re done,” Derouselle said. “It was killing us over there because it was either wet or hot and dusty.”
Derouselle has also served on the parish Ambulatory Advisory Committee, which regulates the parish’s ambulance contract. He was one of the first members of the city’s first planning commission and chaired it under former mayors Hottel Fontenot and Bennett Baquet. He also serves on the Ville Platte Emergency Preparedness Committee. In January of this year, he was appointed to the Louisiana Waste Tire Task Commission by Governor John Bel Edwards.
In 1984, Derouselle was named the most enthusiastic member by the Ville Platte Jaycees. He was named an honorary state representative by the legislature the following year. In 2004-2005, his associates nominated him for the Ville Platte Chamber’s Man of the Year honors, which he won. The Ville Platte Fire Department honored him by nominating him for the Jefferson Awards in 2008. He was one of the top 10 Louisiana local finalists for the Jacqueline Onassis Kennedy Award for Outstanding Service Benefiting Local Communities category. In the same year, as superintendent of the Evangeline Parish Unit of District 03, he was awarded manager of the year for the DOTD.
Derouselle is married to the former Jerianne Ruggles. He is the father of three adult children, Caleb, married to the former Alexis “Lou” LaCoste, Matthew, and Abigail. He is also a member of the First Baptist Church Ville Platte.
As Colonel Cotton, Derouselle dedicates the honor to his family, fellow board members, and members of the fire service who have always helped with the Cotton Festival. He also dedicates the award to the community and to the long-time sponsors of the festival. “They’re still there with us,” he stated, “and they didn’t give up on us. That was the biggest thing because without them it’s not going to work.”