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On Tuesday, over 35 hiring companies and resource providers lined the halls of St. Theresa Hall in Abbeville to assist Vermilion’s career-seeking residents find their dream jobs. The 5th Vermilion Parish Job Fair welcomed employers throughout Acadiana to get to know Vermilion’s home-grown talent.
The Vermilion Economic Development Alliance and Vermilion Chamber of Commerce – two organizations committed to helping both the local business community and residents of the parish – teamed up to host the event in partnership with the Louisiana Workforce Commission, Acadiana Workforce Solutions and South Louisiana Community College’s Gulf Area Campus.
Anne Falgout of the Alliance stated, “We are optimistic about the results. Our employers reported that over 20 job offers were made to participating applicants and over 40 interviews have been scheduled! It was so rewarding to connect the community with the companies that enrich it.”
After the inaugural fair in 2015, organizers launched the Vermilion at Work program to educate businesses on things like employment law and hiring incentives. The team also began working with unemployed residents to share resources available in their own backyard. Earlier this summer, the organizers hosted a Jobseeker Training event in partnership with Gulf Coast Bank and an Employer Workshop with presenting sponsor Allen & Gooch. Both events were designed to prepare participants for the hiring process.
“I was happy to see several Chamber members recognize the importance of these efforts and participate,” added Lynn Guillory of the Chamber of Commerce. “The diverse industry make-up of our membership was represented at the fair. We had all sorts of jobs available from entry-level healthcare professions to highly skilled laborers. The jobseekers were hopeful and several of the employers walked away with good connections. It’s a win-win!”
The team leveraged that one-on-one networking to provide meaningful introductions between involved parties. In addition to the opportunity, they also provided a complimentary lunch courtesy of sponsor One Acadiana. Although they experienced a lower turnout this year, organizers and volunteers kept the energy and professionalism high.
“We knew it might be difficult to host an event with new COVID restrictions in place, but whether we had one or one thousand attendees, we were determined to make the experience positive for all who came,” Falgout said. “We’ll keep communicating with our local businesses and residents, and as long as we’re making good connections, we’re prepared to do what it takes to bring employers and jobseekers together!”

March 4, 1942 ~ August 16, 2021

ERATH — A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 1:00 PM on Friday, August 20, 2021 at Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church honoring the life of Mary Dale Gary, 79, who died Monday, August 16, 2021 at Legacy Nursing & Rehabilitation in Port Allen. She will be laid to rest at Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery in Erath with Fr. Andre Metrejean officiating the services. Pallbearers will be David Gary, Michael Gary, Eric LeBlanc, Alex LeBlanc, Andre LeBlanc, Garrett Sarsfield, Ronnie Montet, Joel Broussard, and Randy Granger.
Dale’s love for children encouraged her education degree from Nichols State University. She first taught at St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Rayne. She then opened her own private kindergarten school where she taught many Erath residents. Dale continued her teaching career in Abbeville at Eaton Park Elementary School, where she retired after 26 years. She touched the lives of many students throughout her teaching career and loved sharing memories from her classroom.
She also had a great love and devotion for her Catholic faith. She was a long-time member of a Come Lord Jesus group and she enjoyed sharing her faith with friends and family. Dale had a great love for all animals especially her Dachshunds and cats. She loved her family and was affectionately known as “Taunte” to her great nieces and nephews.
She is survived by her sister, Paulette Montet and her husband Russell of Kaplan; nephews, David Gary and his wife Paige, and Michael Gary; niece, Melissa LeBlanc and her husband Eric; sister-in-law, Deanna Gary; and seven great nieces and nephews, Kate Gary, Sarah Gary, Claire Gary, Anne Marie Gary, Alex LeBlanc, Andre LeBlanc and Camille LeBlanc.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Honore Gary and the former Lily Mae Broussard; and brother, Benson Gary.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Friday, August 20, 2021 from 10:00 AM until 12:30 PM when the procession will depart for the church. A rosary will be prayed at 10:30 AM.
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 University of Louisiana at Lafayette is sowing the seeds for an outdoor classroom for learning and research about storm water runoff erosion management, native grasses and plants, bees and other pollinators, and soil quality.
That starts this semester with an interdisciplinary effort to plant more native flowers and grasses on 4 acres on each side of Coulee Mine led by UL Lafayette’s Ecology Center and its Office of Sustainability. The planting will be done with help from student volunteers along a section of the waterway that bisects University Common behind Blackham Coliseum.
The work will lay the foundation for the planned Cajun Prairie Habitat and Outdoor Classroom, a place where researchers, students and community officials can learn about, for starters, the ecological value of native flowers and grasses.
“That’s one of the most important components of the project, because native plants’ expansive, fibrous root systems hold soil, reducing erosion caused by storm water runoff. They slow water drainage, which reduces flooding, and also filter contaminants,” explained Gretchen LaCombe Vanicor, director of the University’s Office of Sustainability.
The planting of native grasses and flowers such as switchgrass and Louisiana bluestar along the coulee began about two years ago, she added. The initiative recently received a boost from the CenterPoint Energy Foundation, whose overall support of higher education is focused on improving literacy rates, expanding access to STEM programs and workforce development, and advancing equity and inclusion.
“The Foundation provided $7,500 that will enable the University’s Ecology Center in Carencro to hire an undergraduate student researcher who will propagate and grow seeds for a variety of native plants indigenous to southwest Louisiana that will enable us to increase production greatly,” Vanicor explained.
The support will also provide supplies and labor for planting, cultivation and cover the cost of trucking in compost for fertilizer from UL Lafayette’s Experimental Farm near Cade, La., that’s produced as part of the University’s zero waste initiative.
Going forward, students performing community service with University’s AmeriCorps program and the Office of First-Year Experience’s the Big Event will maintain the “urban prairie” along the coulee.
Creating urban prairies on campus is an initiative of the University’s Sustainability Strategic Plan and one that aligns with the Office of Sustainability’s storm water management master plan. Such areas reduce the need for mowing, provide habitat for bees, bird, butterflies and other pollinators, and help reduce storm water runoff.
The planned Cajun Prairie Habitat and Outdoor Classroom will provide learning opportunities for students from many colleges and disciplines. That includes, for example, students from the School of Architecture and Design, who will help design and build it.
“The idea is to have a plaza-like outdoor seating area with no walls or roofing – a true outdoor classroom where students, faculty members and the public can meet while they are working on projects,” Vanicor said.
Other plans call for installation of hydrological sensors at the site, which will enable researchers to analyze soil over long periods for water quality, filtration capacity and carbon levels. Students from the College of Engineering and the Louisiana Watershed Flood Center will be able to study flood control, while students from the Ray P. Authement College of Sciences will be able to examine soil quality, botany and insect and bird populations.
In addition to teaching, faculty research and student academic projects, research gathered at the site will be shared with public officials and water management professionals, Vanicor explained, “to inform community dialogue and decisions, including about implementing flood mitigation methods.”

For the second time in 72 years, the Cattle Festival in Abbeville will not happen.
Louisiana Cattle Festival President Francis Plaisance announced Thursday morning that the 72nd Annual Louisiana Cattle Festival would not be held at its regularly scheduled time in October.
Plaisance said he contacted all of the board members, and they all came to the same conclusion, that it is too dangerous to hold the Cattle Festival in October due to the virus.
“The risk is greater than the reward,” Plaisance said.
This is the second year in a row the Cattle Festival gets canceled. Last year was the first time in 72 years the festival was ever canceled.
“The Festival had been rescheduled but never canceled in its 72-year history,” Plaisance said, “but for the health and safety of the community, it is necessary to do so this year.”
As of now, there is no stay-at-home order from Gov. John Bel Edwards or large group mandate like there was last year when the festival was first canceled.
The Cattle Festival Board members have begun calling the bands, sponsors, and vendors to let them know about the cancelation.
The Cattle Festival joined other festivals around the state that have had to cancel due to COVID.
The Shrimp Festival in Delcambre was canceled earlier in the month. However, the Duck Festival in Gueydan is still a go in Gueydan at the end of August.
Plaisance thanked everyone for their patience and understanding.
He said if anyone had questions about the canceling of the festival, they could call him at (337) 652-0646 or by e-mail at ragin70510@yahoo.com(link sends e-mail).