Keeping Ville Platte informed

Staff Report

Mayor Ryan LeDay Williams, during the Ville Platte City Council meeting on Tuesday, November 14, officially proclaimed November 22 as KVPI Day in correlation of the radio station’s 70th anniversary, after having signed-on the air in 1953. The proclamation highlights the station’s long-time service to Ville Platte and Evangeline Parish.
The mayor urged the public to attend KVPI’s open house on November 22 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
“KVPI is a friend to the community,” said the mayor.
Mark Layne, station manager, said, “Since we signed-on, we didn’t want to be the big boys and go to Lafayette or Alexandria. We wanted to serve the city we were licensed for. Since we signed-on, every manager, every person who was responsible for the operation of that station, served Ville Platte.”
Layne also thanked the mayor and city council for their support.
Earlier that day, at Rotary Club of Ville Platte’s meeting, Layne gave a brief history of the station, noting it first went on air at 2 p.m. on a Sunday morning and the first voice heard over the airwaves was Father Bourgeois, who gave the invocation. The next voice heard was that of President of Ville Platte Broadcasting Lionel Deville. Chris Duplechin, according to Layne, was the first station manager and developed some of the programming still used by the station.
Layne noted the goal of KVPI has always been to give back to the community, noting, “How many other radio stations still cover sports, election returns, school board and police jury meetings and more?”
He thanked the local business leaders for helping KVPI to fulfill this mission and asked for their continued support.