Hebert rides in Rose Bowl Parade

Avery Claire Hebert has ridden or attended many parades over the last 21 years. But on Monday, Hebert road in a unique parade.
Hebert, a 2019 Vermilion Catholic graduate, is the Louisiana Queen LXXIX of the Sugar Cane Festival in Iberia Parish.
Last month she and 14 other Louisiana festival queens received a phone call from Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser inviting them to ride in the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California.
She and the other queens helped decorate the float.
The parade route was five miles long, and Hebert and 14 other queens smiled and waved to the thousands of spectators.
There was no throwing candy or beads at the spectators for the Rose Bowl Parade.
“No one expected you to throw,” said Hebert on Tuesday. “I smiled a lot and waved to everyone.”
Hebert is a senior at LSU, has one more semester left, and will graduate in Ag Business. After that, she plans to attend Law School and, one day, plans to be a lawyer representing the agriculture industry.
Hebert is an expert in the sugar cane industry because of her family farm. However, agriculture is her true love, not the pageant life. She won the Louisiana Farm Bureau Queen title last year and entered the Sugar Cane Festival title because of her vast knowledge of the Sugar Cane industry.
Little did she expect she would be educating people in California about the sugar cane industry.
“People thought I was the queen of the Sugar Bowl when they saw my sash. It gave me a chance to talk about the sugar cane industry.”
The Heberts are expected to arrive back in Vermilion Parish on Wednesday. They drove 27 hours to California and another 27 hours to return.
The Hebert family was scheduled to fly to California at the end of December but their flights were canceled days before the parade.
So, her father, Blair, drove 25 of the 27 hours to get the family there. Her mother, Michelle, drove for two hours.
Also in the vehicle were Avery’s sister Amelia and brother Ethan.