Rotary heads to the creek

Farming has come a long way since the days of plowing a field on a Hoyt Clagwell tractor. Nowadays, some farmers have switched to an approach where they plant their crops in environmentally controlled greenhouses.
Explaining this greenhouse approach to the Rotary Club of Ville Platte was Phillip Cavins of Turkey Creek, owner of Prairie Culture Farms.
Cavins, in the spring, began an expansion on 20 acres in Pine Prairie. The expansion will result in his operation being three times what it is now and will lead to him growing peppers, cucumbers, herbs, parsley, green onions, and basil on top of his lettuce and tomatoes.
“We’re doing that to provide more fresh local produce for our parish and other communities around us,” he said.
The project will also lead to more job opportunities in the parish. “The expansion into Pine Prairie will allow us to take on more people and bring more employment to our parish,” Cavins said.
With the recent hurricanes, Cavins experienced a total loss of his preexisting greenhouse. However, as he said, “We are planning on rebuilding bigger and better.”
Cavins is also mayor of Turkey Creek and explained how the village fared during the recent weather related activities.
“We had a lot more damage from Hurricane Laura than we did with Delta,” said he. “With Delta, we had more high winds and a lot of flooding.”
As Cavins explained, one business in the village took on eight-feet of water and two homes in the lowest areas of the village took on six-inches of water.
The village also lost sections of Pine Street. According to Cavins, Hurricane Laura washed away a section of the road, and Hurricane Delta washed away an additional five-feet. The village is working with the Evangeline Parish Police Jury on repairing the roadway.
Cavins, then, went on to talk about other things happening in his village. “Whenever I became mayor,” he said, “we had a few part-time officers and a part-time chief. We now have four full-time officers along with six or seven part-time officers in our village.”
He continued, “We started with two police units, but now we’re up to almost 10.”
The majority of the police units have been donated to the village by other jurisdictions.
Cavins also said the popular Christmas in the Village is cancelled this year because of COVID-19 and other things going on in the village. However, the Christmas Parade will still roll through the village.