Abbeville native gets music wing named after him

Abbeville native Wade Robinson was caught off guard when he learned why he was at a dedication program at Plaisance Middle School in St. Landry Parish.
For 34 years, Robinson drove from Abbeville to then Plaisance High School and Northwest High School.
He was the band director from 1967 to 2001 at the two schools.
Earlier this month, his wife Catherine, of 54 years, was able to get him to return to the old Plaisance High School, now Plaisance Middle School, by telling him a small lie.
When the ceremony began, he learned the dedication program was in his honor. St. Landry School District named the music wing that he taught in for years in his honor.
When it was his turn to speak, he said, “Y’all put one on me. I used to know everything.”
Many of Robinson’s former faculty members and band students were on hand for the celebration.
The music department is housed inside the former Plaisance Rosenwald School, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
Robinson is a 1961 graduate of James A. Herod High School. He graduated from the University of Southwest Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana).
After retiring in 2001, he was a substitute teacher at North West High School until his last assignment in 2019.