200 team-up to clean Abbeville Wildcat football stadium

 About 200 people arrived at Wildcat Stadium on Saturday to prepare for the upcoming football season.
For the past several years, the Abbeville High School band has been responsible for getting Wildcat Stadium ready for football season.
After receiving a call for help from the AHS Band Director Gabriel LeMoine, Wildcats head football coach Johnathan Zenon decided to make the cleanup and restoration a mandatory project for his team.
“The Band Director asked for a couple of guys to come out, so I just made it mandatory,” Zenon said.  “They have to understand it’s their stadium.  How do they want it to look on game night?”
  “Also, it’s an opportunity to give back to the community.  We want our guys to be good citizens.  We want them doing things in the community because it helps build that character we’re trying to instill in our young men here at Abbeville.”
It wasn’t just the football team and band that showed up, though. AHS Booster Club president Gil Meaux was there with a crew to do landscaping. Also, JH Williams staff and members of the middle school football team showed up to do their part.
 Brandon Johnson, an assistant coach on the AHS football team and a lifelong resident of Abbeville, was overwhelmed by the response from the team and the community.
“The turnout exceeded our expectations,” Johnson said.  “We had a vibrant mix of high school and junior high school student-athletes, band members, staff from AHS and JHW, and the booster club out here.  It was an awesome event.”
  Johnson also elaborated on how the school and the community are connected in Abbeville. He feels they lean on each other.  When one thrives, so does the other.
“Growing up in this community and now stepping into my third year as an assistant coach, I’ve come to understand the relationship between our school and the community deeply,” he continued.  “It’s more than just geography.  It’s about shared history, pride, and mutual support.”
   “As a graduate, I carry the memories of walking the halls, playing on that field, and feeling the energy of the community that always had our backs.  Our community isn’t just a backdrop for our school.  It’s the heartbeat that keeps us going.  When we walk out on that field, it’s not just about us.  It’s about everyone who’s ever walked through those doors or cheered in those stands.”
Abbeville will scrimmage the Patterson Lumberjacks on Friday at 6 p.m.. at Wildcat Stadium.