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ERATH— A Mass of Christian Burial for Mrs. Lillie Belle Touchet, 96, will be held at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church on Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 1:00PM with Father Metrejean officiating.
Visitation will be held at David Funeral Home of Erath on Thursday, July 16, 2020 from 9:00AM until time of services with a recitation of the rosary at 10:00AM.
A native of Erath, Mrs. Lillie Belle passed away on Monday, July 13, 2020. She was a devout Catholic and loved sewing. She was a member of the Ladies Altar Society and taught Religion for thirty years.
She is survived by her daughter, Liz Touchet and her husband Kenneth of Erath; her son, Kendell Touchet and his wife Phyllis of Erath; her grand children, Heather Cornner and her husband Shawn of Erath, and Hunter Touchet of Erath; and her great grandchildren Kalex Cornner, Ainsley Corrner, and Emmeri Corrner.
She is preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, Roy Touchet; her parents, Joseph Viator and Edith Richard Viator; her son, Mark Touchet; her brothers, C.D. Viator, Aldes Viator, and Afray Viator; her sisters, Mabel LeBlance, Alice Menard, Lucille Toups, Lilly Mae Guidry, and Nilda Hebert.
Serving as pallbearers will be Kenneth Touchet, Kendell Touchet, Hunter Touchet Shawn Cornner, Ron Bodin, and Kalec Cornner.
The Touchet Family would like to offer special thanks to Roslyn Delahousaye Ward, Kaplan Health Care Nursing Home and David Funeral Home.
You may sign the guest register book and express condolences online at www.davidfuneralhome.org
David Funeral Home of Erath 209 E. Putnam St. (337)937-0405 will be handling the arrangements.

June 26, 1938 ~ July 14, 2020

ABBEVILLE — A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 1:00 PM on Thursday, July 16, 2020 at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church honoring the life of Sallie Vincent Simon, 82, who died Tuesday, July 14, 2020 at Lafayette General Medical Center. She will be laid to rest at St. Paul Cemetery with Father Donald Bernard officiating the services. Serving as pallbearers will be Dwayne Simon, Mark Simon, Ryan Simon, Mitchell Simon, Jeff Cart and Chris Ditch. Honorary pallbearer will be Luke Cart.
Sallie was a devout Catholic and faithful member of St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church. Sallie enjoyed a 30-year career with the Gulf Coast Bank in Abbeville.  Her home was always filled with the sweet aromas of her cooking and baking, and her warm smile and kind heart endeared herself to all who knew her. She will always be remembered as the most loving mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend and will be missed beyond words could ever say.
She is survived by her daughter, Jeannette S. Henry of Lafayette, and her companion, Chris Ditch; two sons, Dwayne Simon and his wife, Ramona of Abbeville, and Mark A. Simon and his wife, Dianne of Abbeville; seven grandchildren, Christy S. Cart, Ryan Simon, Mitchell Simon, Mandy Simon, Michelle S. Baldock, Allie Henry and Jainie Henry; eight great grandchildren; and one sister, Una V. Broussard of Abbeville.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Rufus John Simon; parents, Alfred Vincent and the former Neuvee Duhon; and one brother, Kenneth Vincent.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 from 5:00 PM until 9:00 PM with a rosary being prayed at 7:00 PM; Thursday, July 16, 2020 from 9:00 AM until 12:45 PM when the procession will depart for the church.
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.

The first-ever Abbeville Kiwanis Club Educators Award night was held on a smaller scale, but it did not matter because everyone who attended enjoyed the night.
The event was held on Tuesday at the old Riverfront Restaurant next to the Vermilion River.
The awards were given to the top elementary teacher, the top middle school teacher, and the top high school teacher in the parish. Other awards given were to the top high school, middle school, and elementary principal. The first award went to the top support worker of the school district.
Nomination letters were emailed and mailed into the Kiwanis Club, and a separate panel from outside of parish selected the winners based on the nomination letters.
The winner of each category was given $500 cash, a gift basket and a trophy that totaled close to $800. The others were also given a $150 cash prize, along with an award.
The total amount of prizes given by the Kiwanis Club was $8,500.

High School Teacher winner

Lacey Meaux of Abbeville High walked away with the high school teacher award. For the last nine years, she has been Abbeville High’s virtual coordinator.
In her nomination letter, it states that “Lacey is an absolute rock of our students and faculty. She represents me, the ideal Wildcat. She is the product of our school, and she has returned to hold its legacy. She does what needs to be done to keep things operating 110 percent.”
Meaux said education runs deeper than simply giving students the best education possible.
“Education is about developing relationships with our students, who I often refer to as ‘my kids,’ and teaching them about life and how to be better people each day.”

Middle School Teacher winner

Malinda Roy of North Vermilion Middle School was named the middle school teacher of the year.
Roy teaches English and World History at NVMS.
Her nomination letter was sent in by a parent, whose son was taught by Roy.
The letter points out that her son has disabilities, and Roy was notified of his challenges.
“Each day, this teacher goes above and beyond our expectation as parents to work with my son, who is labeled as ODD. Each week she goes beyond and sends us a note to let us know how the week has gone. She has given my son a job to do in the classroom every day. As a fellow educator, I know she has a good rapport with her students, which goes a long way.
“If you build a great classroom environment, your students will work with you.”

Elementary School Teacher winner

Dara Broussard of Dozier Elementary won the elementary teacher of the year award. She is a fifth-grade teacher.
“I chose to teach because I love seeing children smile, laugh, and get excited because it is magical. I want to be an inspiration making sure that the light shining within each child’s heart grows and continues to shine bright. I want to make sure that each child knows that he or she is loved, special, and cared for,” said Broussard.
Here is part of her nomination letter.
“She is an amazing teacher,” said her letter. “She explains everything very clearly so we all can understand what she is talking about. She also never points anyone out for a bad reason.”

High School Principal winner

The winner of the high school principal of the year is Erath High assistant principal Dr. Belisa Smith.
Here is part of her nomination letter.
“Dr. Smith wants the students to succeed. She does not talk down to us but treats us like we would be her own children and she is so happy when we succeed. She gives us praise and lets us know that she believes in us.”
Smith, who is originally from Mississippi, has been the assistant principal at EHS for two years. Prior to EHS, she was the assistant principal at Abbeville High School.

Middle School Principal winner

Wendy Stoute is this year’s Middle School Principal of the Year winner.
Stoute retired in June after spending 30 years in education. She spent her final years as the EMS principal.
Here is part of her nomination letter.
“She always has her door open and empathizes with you, making you feel like you matter. She fights for her students and staff like no other principal I have worked for. Her finesse and presence with her community have proven that she lives to serve. I mean it when I say she is truly a blessing to our school. She is someone you want to serve because that is exactly what she does. She serves her school, her students, her staff, and her community.”

Elementary School Principal winner

Elizabeth Bearb is the Elementary School Principal of the Year winner. She is the assistant principal at Herod Elementary for the last two years.
Here is part of her nomination letter.
“In her short time, she has brought so much to our school,” said the letter. She has a vibrant and bubbly personality. She is a go-getter who is willing to do whatever it needed. She came to our school and quickly began making connections with the faculty and students. She digs into the curriculum and assists teachers with annotating lesson plans, analyzing students’ work, and using data to guide instruction. She has garnered the respect of the students, teacher, and parents alike. Our school would be a much different place without her.”

Support Staff Worker winner

Tiffany Vidrine Roché is the Support Staff Worker of the Year award winner. Roché is the bookkeeper at Herod Elementary.
Here is part of her nomination letter.
“She takes her job very seriously, and she strives daily to make sure she is doing everything correctly. The school’s finances are vital, and she makes sure that every penny is accounted for. She goes beyond her bookkeeping duties. She can be seen monitoring classes when the teacher must step out or making copies for teachers. She also serves meals when the cafeteria is short-staffed. She is like the hub of the school, and not much gets past her. “

As we struggle through the changes brought on by the coronavirus outbreak, I am reminded of the 1980s, when a disastrous downturn in the oil industry turned south Louisiana topsy-turvy.
We’d boasted back then that our oil and gas made Louisiana recession-proof, that we had something everyone else needed, and nothing could change that. When others complained about oil prices, we put stickers on our bumpers: “Let the [blankety-blanks] freeze in the dark.”
But when the big oil bust hit, we found out that had been wishful thinking. A new bumper sticker appeared: “Stay Alive in ’85.” That also turned out to be wishful thinking for a lot of people associated with the oil and gas industry, which included practically everybody in south Louisiana.
That bust turned out to be the catalyst that made us realize that we had plenty to offer besides oil, and that we could and should diversify our economy. That idea led to the concept of actively promoting our culture.
We knew that south Louisiana was different from most other places, but it hadn’t dawned on most of us that people from those other places would come to see, and fall in love with, what we considered our everyday life. There had been efforts to hold on to our language and music and crafts, but that was mostly for ourselves. But then we began to perceive that our food, music, history, language, and inclination toward “passing a good time” had a value, that people from elsewhere, unbelievably, would pay good money to share.
I was then, and continue to be, an advocate for promotion of our authentic culture. I emphasize authentic. You’ll remember that some people went a little overboard and promoted everything from made-up history to “genuine” Cajun hot dogs (just like grandma used to make).
All of it, the real and the hokey, set off a boom that caused us to begin to think once more that nothing could shut down our newfound culture-based businesses. All we had to do was keep being us and others would come to see us do it.
We never thought about a pandemic that meant that nobody, including ourselves, would be able to eat at our restaurants, two-step at our dance halls, or come together for our festivals. That was as inconceivable as a plummeting oil market had once been.
But here we are, and it looks like we may be in this predicament for a while. The good news is that it will be only for a while. The oil industry did rebound back then, albeit with some differences. The cultural economy will do the same, also most likely with some differences. But the things that created it in the first place will still be with us.
We come from a culture that honors a love for family and the fun things that can happen when we get together to boil crawfish or ride horses or enjoy the rich variety of our music.
This virus business deprives us of some of that — but if we are not careful, it could also deprive us of loved ones who are at the center of the culture that sets us apart — brothers and sisters and cousins, parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles who have taught us how to cook, showed us our first dance steps, secured those family bonds that are so important.
When people from elsewhere come to see us, they don’t always realize that our families are the keepers of our culture; the traditions they maintain are the basis of what others find so compelling here.
Our culture is based upon family values that have never been for sale, and won’t be in the future, but we do love to share those values and the things that set us apart, and that love won’t change, either.
Some of us still find it incredible that people will spend some money while doing the sharing.
But they do, and we’ll again be able to grin, shake our heads, and say, “OK, we’ll take it, if you insist.”
A collection of Jim Bradshaw’s columns, Cajuns and Other Characters, is now available from Pelican Publishing. You can contact him at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.