New Rotary friends and ways

At this week’s meeting back at the Family Life Center, the Ville Platte Rotary Club welcomes two new members to its ranks. The newest Rotarians are Renee Brown, who is the new Executive Director of the Evangeline Chamber of Commerce, and Margie Mealer, who is the new Director of the Evangeline Parish Library.
“I’m looking forward to all of the great new programs that we will be working on together and getting to know a lot of you better,” Brown told the club.
Mealer commented, “I’m loving everything that I’ve seen about Evangeline Parish, and I’m glad to be here.”
The club then heard from its new president Richard LeJeune, who presided over his first meeting since the gavel was passed from Wayne Vidrine. During his remarks, LeJeune introduced new club projects for his year in office.
“We’re going to choose 10 families in our community who need a Christmas smile and are in need of a pick me up,” LeJeune said. “(The board) got with Champagne’s, and they’re going to prepare 10 Christmas baskets with a full meal and all of the trimmings. We’re going to choose 10 families to give these to.”
He continued, “We need to be relevent in our community, and I think that would give us a good shot in the arm to say that we are here.”
LeJeune’s other new project also deals with helping those who are less fortunate around Christmas. “Starting at our next meeting up until the first meeting in November, all of you are going to be required to bring two unwrapped toys for ages five to 10,” he said. “We’re going to donate these to Toys for Tots. We have a 46-member club, so that’s 92 kids that we’re going to help just by our efforts.”
Expanding on the president’s idea of being more relevant in the community, Rotarian and Mayor Jennifer Vidrine suggested on having the Rotary Wheel be in the Tee-Cotton Bowl Parade on August 31.
Earlier in the meeting, Rotarian and Evangeline Parish Superintendent of Schools Darwan Lazard announced that the French Immersion program is extending in its second year to include second grade at Ville Platte and Mamou Elementaries. He stated that one of the new teachers will be moving into the apartments in Chataignier and that the other one will be living in a house in Eunice.
Lazard’s guest Assistant Superintendent Michael Lombas then announced “One is coming from Paris, France, and I will be hosting her for the next several weeks because the house that she is moving into is not ready.” Lombas added, “She is coming with her husband and a dog, so it has been a little bit harder to find housing accommodations for them with fenced yard requirements.”
He, like last year, then appealed to the Rotary Club members for their donations of furniture to help support the new French Immersion teachers. “We are in need of donations, particularly used appliances,” he commented. “Of course, we are always looking for furniture like a small couch, chest of drawers, dressers, bedroom furniture, end tables, and any household items like pots and pans.”
He continued, “If you have anything that you would consider donating or if you know anyone who might have something that they’re wishing to donate, you can contact us at the school board office directly. It can be dropped off at the school board office, or we are happy to go pick it up.”
Lombas also expressed what last year’s donations meant to the success of the French Immersion program in its first year. “Our French teachers last year just could not believe the outpouring of support that we did for them,” he said. “Most districts don’t do all this for their French teachers. They have to find their own housing and buy their own furniture, and it’s a huge expense. We try to alleviate all of that for them. I think we show them what Evangeline hospitality is all about.”
“We’re getting good reports from CODOFIL (Council for the Development of French in Louisiana), and the French consulate is extremely impressed with us,” he continued. “We look forward to a continuation of our French Immersion program in the parish because Evangeline Parish has the largest French speaking population in the state. It’s part of our heritage, and this program in our public schools will help keep that alive for our children and for future generations.”
According to Lombas, there is a waiting list for students who are wanting to enroll in the program at Mamou Elementary