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January 10, 1943 ~ July 5, 2022

ABBEVILLE — Funeral services will be held at 12:00 PM on Friday, July 8, 2022 at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville honoring the life of Betty Doucet Landry, 79, who died Tuesday, July 5, 2022 at Kaplan Healthcare Center. She will be laid to rest at Landry Cemetery in Henry, LA
She is survived by her son, Louis "T-Boy" Marceaux and his wife, Donna; daughter, Alice “Sue” Marceaux; two step-daughters, Gisele Landry and Stephanie Landry; eight grandchildren; and seven step-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, John E. Landry, Sr.; parents, Freddie Doucet, Sr. and the former Effie Choate; two sons, Jay Marceaux and John Ed Landry, Jr.; and daughter, Joy Landry.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Friday, July 8, 2022 from 8:30 AM until time of services.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, (337) 893-4661.

Mike Hardy has personal and family history with the Abbeville Police Department.
The newly-sworn in Chief of Police served three terms as chief from 1990-2002, and his father Minos and brother Tony also served as chief for eight years each, and his younger brother Chris is a lieutenant with the Abbeville Police.
Hardy knows things have changed in the years since he last served as chief and said residents of the city could expect changes to the department, starting with a greater patrol presence on the streets.
“We’re getting back down to basics,” Hardy said. “We’re not going to have any specialty divisions — we won’t have detectives, we’re not going to have K-9s. What we’re going to do is we’re going to put men on the street. Everybody’s going to be in uniform. Everybody will be on the road patrolling. I plan on going from three guys on duty all the time to five guys, including a lieutenant.”
Hardy said he plans to build trust in the community.
“People don’t trust some of the police department,” he said. “I hope to change that.
“Nobody’s above the law. So if anybody’s doing anything illegal, be cautious because we will be enforcing the law.”
Hardy became a car salesman at Ray Chevrolet in Abbeville after leaving office in 2002 but stayed involved in law enforcement as a part-time officer in Maurice and then as a reserve officer. He also ran unsuccessfully for police chief in 2002, and twice ran for Vermilion Parish Sheriff.
Hardy said he decided to run for police chief this time for the same reason he ran the first time, because he was concerned for the safety of his family and the city’s other residents.
“Back then, I ran because I had three young daughters,” he said. “Twenty years later, I’ve got two young granddaughters, very young granddaughters, and if we’re going to live around Abbeville, this town has to come back down to earth. Unfortunately, crime’s just getting a little wild. There’s a lot of shootings going on.”
Having a supervisor on every shift makes the police department more accountable, he said, and he wants to make sure the city’s police officers are very presentable, respectable and acting in a professional manner.
“What I’m trying to do is keep track of everything that’s going on,” he said. “I’m not one of these guys that says ‘we can’t do it and this is why.’ I’m going to say ‘we’re going to do our best to do the best we can.”
Hardy said he feels the department is about 10 people short of a full staff, and he wants to recruit full-time to get new officers and personnel.
Abbeville should have about 39 or 40 people in its police department, for a city its size, he said, which includes non-officers in payroll, secretaries, maintenance people and so on. Abbeville has about 24 people doing patrols right now, and he thinks 32 is a more appropriate number. He’d also like to get to a point where the police department has a couple of detectives, and a couple of trained K-9 officers with dogs.
“We’re going to try to pick up the quality of the people we hire,” he said. “I do intend to work with the city council and mayor to maybe do something about salaries for police officers so maybe we can attract and retain police officers. We want to get somebody to come here and make it a career, not somebody that’s going to come here and make it a stepping stone to get to Lafayette or New Iberia, or one of the sheriff’s offices.”
Hardy said he intends to be at the police station and to patrol at night himself. While he doesn’t want to micromanage, he wants to make sure everyone’s doing their job. He also wants to show the public that he wants to make the city safer for residents. That includes writing tickets for traffic violations like rolling slowly through stop signs or going a few miles an hour above the speed limit.
“Now, we are going to get some complaints. Any time somebody gets stopped by a police officer, he’s not going to be excited,” Hardy said. “We’re going to write some tickets. For the first two or three weeks, they’ll be warning tickets.
“Some people are not going to be happy with the changes. Some have been, I guess content with what was going on and happy with the status quo. A lot of people were not, though. We’re going to give them a professional law enforcement agency. We’re going to work with the surrounding agencies. We’re going to do our best to take drugs off the streets.”
He also wants to try to make sure people drive the speed limit, don’t litter and don’t park in front of fire hydrants.
“All that stuff that’s really simple,” he said. “And it’s simple for a police officer to do his job. By doing their job it’s going to attract business here. People are going to feel safer. The elderly will be happier to be able to walk in their neighborhoods. Right now there’s parts of town that people won’t walk in their neighborhoods as soon as it gets dusk. They’re just afraid. There are too many gunshots going off all the time.
“I’m hoping that by providing more vehicles on the street, more persons patrolling, if you have a high presence, it’s less likely somebody’s going to be out there shooting guns because they know they’re going to jail.”
Officer training will be a major part of his agenda.
“I intend to get professionals to do some training,” Hardy said. “Get some free training from UL. State police, they’ll come in and do some. FBI will do some every once in a while.”
He said that working for better salaries and the good benefits program that the city has can help.
“I just feel if we provide a professional department, a safer town, we attract more businesses, and that’s where the money comes in,” he said. “And (that’s what) I’ve got to get across to these guys. We make the town safe, we bring in businesses, they stay here, your salary’s got to go up. They’ve got to compete for police officers.”

I am proud and excited to announce my candidacy for Erath's City Council in the upcoming election, November 8, 2022.
My decision was made by strong faith, belief in civic duty, and my utmost pride in the great community of Erath. Community service is a significant part of my life. For the past 32 years, I have had the honor of teaching the children of Erath. As an educator at Erath Middle School, I play a leadership role in maintaining our School Performance Score of "A" rating. Erath's excellent schools are key to attracting new families to the community and encouraging stead-fast residents, such as myself, to remain Civic responsibility is important to me. For over a decade, I have volunteered with Erath Fourth of July Association and presently serve as Co-Vice President, planning and managing our great Fourth of July celebration. My faith brings me great comfort, and having assisted and volunteered with Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and the Catholic Daughters Association allows me to serve others.
If given the opportunity to serve as a member of Erath's City Council, my focus will be to foster effective local government, provide greater opportunities for the citizens and youth, and maintain our strong community and family environment. I pledge to support the mayor and other council members. Also, to the best of my ability, I will work to advance the community while maintaining that quality which is unique to Erath.
Erath is a town steeped in rich culture and traditions. With your support, we can continue to make Erath the best place to work and live.
Having been blessed for the past 32 years with the honor of teaching our children, I humbly ask that the citizens of Erath bestow upon me the privilege of serving all members of our community by casting your vote on November 8, 2022 for Stephanie P. Broussard, Erath's City Council.

Paid for by Stephanie P. Broussard

LAFAYETTE – On June 22, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) announced its 2022 Circle of Excellence Awards winners across the globe, which included Acadiana’s own South Louisiana Community College (SLCC).
The college - one of only seven award winners selected in their category and the only community college - was honored with a Gold award for its most recent employee giving campaign, where faculty and staff were asked to invest back into the institution to support philanthropic initiatives including student scholarships, emergency fund programs, and more.
CASE is a global association comprised of educational advancement professionals from more than 3,600 colleges and educational institutions from over 82 countries around the world. Its Circle of Excellence awards is the premier recognition program for educational advancement, is peer-selected and judged, and honors institutions worldwide whose talented staff have advanced their organizations through their resourcefulness and ingenuity.
According to the college’s nomination:
“THANKS+GIVING, the 2021 SLCC Employee Giving Week campaign, took place the week after the college Thanksgiving break, which gave us the unique opportunity to expand the season of thanks and gratitude at SLCC. To kick off the week, the college heard from employees who give to each area of investment. The development team then spent the week visiting each of SLCC's campuses while hosting a “Pie It Forward” event for employees. We strived to catch SLCC employees’ attention in areas other than their inboxes, including at their desks, in the welding facility, and on the helipad. Employees were thanked for the work they do each day - beyond giving deeply of themselves, but also generously supporting the mission of the college by participating in the employee giving campaign.”
At its conclusion, the campaign had the highest percentage of employee givers in the history of the college at 76% of all full-time employees. The effort raised a total of $26,418.68.
SLCC’s Vice Chancellor of Institutional Advancement & External Relations, Lana Fontenot, shared her excitement about the recognition, remarking, “I’m incredibly proud of the creative thinking and genuineness that our Development Officer, Morgan Wampler, put into the most recent employee giving campaign. Her approach of thanking employees first (rather than after a contribution) really resonated with our faculty and staff, who showed their appreciation in return by supporting the campaign at record-breaking levels.”
Winners were selected from more than 4,500 entries from over 30 countries based on several factors, including overall quality, innovation, use of resources and the impact on the institution on its external and internal communities.
“Our CASE Circle of Excellence Awards celebrate the creative, resourceful, and innovative ways advancement professionals around the globe champion their institutions’ success,” says CASE President and CEO Sue Cunningham. “Advancement has never been more important to support and strengthen education. These 2022 Circle of Excellence recipients—from institutions and teams of all sizes and shapes, from regions across the world—showcase how advancement empowers teaching and learning, ignites institutional progress, and helps communities thrive. I hope you take the opportunity to explore these award winners and become inspired.”