Lane Broussard found her “Why I Love Abbeville” first place plaque she won 30-plus years ago.
A copy of the letter that Lane Broussard wrote about Abbeville as a fourth grader at Mt. Carmel Elementary in 1993. The letter was in the time capsule that was opened on Thursday.
Councilman Brady Broussard read a letter found in the time capsule. The letter was written my Mt. Carmel student Lane Broussard on why she loves Abbeville.
Broussard surprised her fourth grade letter found in time capsule
Lane Broussard was surprised to discover that a letter she wrote in fourth grade at Mt. Carmel Elementary in 1993 had been buried in a time capsule in Magdalen Square.
On Thursday, to celebrate Abbeville’s 175th birthday, Mayor Roslyn White and city officials opened the 30-year-old white plastic time capsule buried in the gazebo floor.
Mayor White gradually removed all the items from the time capsule and showed them to the crowd.
One of the items the Mayor removed was a laminated letter written by a fourth-grade student from Mt. Carmel.
Abbeville City Council Brady Broussard read the letter to the crowd.
Why I Love
Abbeville!!
I love Abbeville because it’s a friendly town with nice people. It’s a beautiful little town with a big beautiful courthouse and two squares in the center of town. It has plenty of trees and clean fresh air.
Abbeville has always been home to my family. Abbeville has a lot a good Cajun cooking like hot boudin, cracklin, gumbo and jambalaya.
“It is the home of the Cattle Festival and the French Market Festival.”
Ya’ll come and see us in Abbeville!
Lane Broussard
Mt. Carmel
4th Grade
Lane remembers the letter because it won an essay contest, and she had to read it on stage during the Omelette Festival in 1993. Nancy Toups was Lane’s English Teacher in fourth grade at Mt. Carmel.
She graduated from Vermilion Catholic in 2002.
Lane was unaware that the letter had been placed in a time capsule.
Lane was not at the Square on Thursday, but she would read a copy of the letter later that day.
“The first time I read it, I cried,” said Broussard. “The second time I read it, I picked up my head and saw a red cardinal on the bird feeder. Seeing the cardinal meant my daddy (the late Donald Broussard) was here. He was proud knowing I accomplished something.”
Lane recalls drawing a happy face at the end of her letter, using two exclamation marks and a small tongue hanging out of the smiling mouth. On Thursday, her mother discovered the first-place plaque that Lane had won for her essay titled “Why I Love Abbeville.”
Broussard, 41, lives in Abbeville and works as an eighth-grade English teacher at Anderson Middle School in New Iberia.
Her letter and other items removed from the capsule will be placed in a new time capsule that will be opened in 25 years.