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There is a new attraction at A.A. Comeaux Park in Abbeville, one that is making a splash.
Literally.
The city of Abbeville has officially turned on the new splash pad at the park.
“The splash pad is open for business,” Mayor Mark Piazza said.
The splash pad will be open daily, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. That schedule, weather permitting, will remain in place during the summer break.
The city turned on the water last weekend. It didn’t take long to draw a crowd, even with less-than-ideal weather conditions.
“They were out there all weekend,” Piazza said. “If it wasn’t raining, they were out there.
“They were having a lot of fun out there.”
In correlation with the splash pad, the Rotary Club of Abbeville made improvements to the pavilion and installed climate-controlled bathrooms. Showers and a changing room have also been added through the help of the Rotary Club, which uses its comedy night each March to raise funds for community projects. The club invested nearly $35,000 into this project.
“We want to thank the Rotary Club for their support,” Piazza said.
Rotarians also had a big hand in creating the nearby skateboard park that went up a few years ago. Rob Roy, who served as Rotary Club president when work on the splash pad began, said it is nice to see what a partnership with the city has produced.
“I saw people I know posting pictures of the splash pad,” Roy said. “I’m happy to see people enjoying it.
“It’s great to see so many people utilizing the park.”
Piazza said the skate park and the splash pad are perfect examples of what can bring more people to the park.
“I want to thank the City Council for choosing to invest in our parks,” Piazza said, “so that our kids can have some summer activities. I think that the improvements that have been made are beneficial. It’s what citizens have asked for, providing things for the kids to do at the park that don’t just involve sports.”
City employees were heavily involved in the construction of the splash pad.
“Seventy-five percent of the splash pad was done in-house,” Piazza said. “Our electrical people and water crews, along with street and bridge, all helped out.”
Piazza estimated that the price tag of around $75,000 would have easily doubled if not for the capabilities of city employees.
“It would have been twice as much if we had to go out and hire someone to do the complete job,” Piazza said. “We had city employees who were willing and able to do the work. Not everyone can go in and do what Larry Moore and his guys did with the plumbing. They really saved us a lot of money. I want to give them credit.”
The city did hire a consultant from Fort Worth, Texas. However, restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic hindered his ability to travel from Texas to Louisiana for several months.
“That slowed things down,” Piazza said. “It would probably have been open a year ago.”
Thanks to some hard work to get to the finish line, it’s open now.
“We are excited about the splash pad,” Piazza said. “It is a great addition to the park.”

What started as a typical day in July of 2017 for the Goutierrez family turned into a nightmare as the father and husband they’ve known for years would have to endure a lifelong battle of extensive care.
The once active, hardworking, and strong husband and father became a brave, hardworking, and strong person who has become more and more active by the day.
Though things will never be the same and back to the way it was before, the family thinks back on their times as a family and how much they didn’t realize what it would mean to them.
It all began four years ago in July of 2017, when Johnnie
Goutierrez received a phone call in the late morning hours from her husband’s boss informing her of an accident that her husband was just involved in. “They told me that I needed to get to the emergency room at Lafayette General as soon as possible and that there was a work-related accident involving Jason,” Johnnie said. “On my way there, I received another call from a nurse asking for consent to intubate him.”
It was then that Johnnie knew that this wasn’t a good sign. The extensive injuries that Jason Goutierrez received from the accident left intubation as the best medical choice. But, once finding out the extent of the accident and Jason’s injuries, Johnnie had to be as strong as she could for her family.
“I was in complete shock,” she said. Being a nurse herself, it wasn’t hard to understand what was going on around her and what everything meant when she heard the words’ brain surgery’ from the mouth of those helping her husband.
Jason Goutierrez had been thrown headfirst into the cement after being catapulted from a bucket truck. Crushing the right side of his skull and having multiple facial fractures along with ever rib on the right side of his body being broken and his collar bone, once Johnnie made it to the ICU, her husband was already being prepped for brain surgery.
“Most of the surgery that day was to remove blood clots from his brain,” she said. “His injuries were devastating, but by the grace of God, he stayed strong through them.”
Jason Goutierrez spent a total of four months in the hospital, recovering from the accident and attending rehab.
Not being able to hear the voice of her husband and father since the accident four years ago, his family was still able to communicate with him. “He can type out a little bit of what he wants to say or he can write it down,” she said. “Though it is very messy, my years of working with doctors and reading their penmanship helped me understand his handwriting. And he still has his sense of humor, that’s for sure.”
Since the accident, there have been a few minor setbacks. First, he contracted pneumonia in early 2018, which caused a seizure. “Thankfully,” Johnnie said, “the CT scan of his head was good, and he didn’t have any more seizures during that hospital stay.”
The Goutierrez family had to learn an entirely new way of life. However, the family is thankful and appreciative to all who have helped in any way. “We had such a wonderful support group,” she said.
In August of 2018, Jason and his family reunited with the paramedics and firefighters who saved his life. That Monday, the day of the 2017 accident, Jason Goutierrez was as close to death as one can get. As there was no way to repay them, the family felt that it was important to let them know how much they greatly appreciated their hard work in saving Jason’s life.
Johnnie Goutierrez shows her unconditional love for her husband every day. Though there are nurses at the home 24/7, Johnnie is 100% involved in her husband’s care and plans to be at all times.
“Our lives will never be the same, and I can’t pity myself for the things that I have lost since that day,” Johnnie said. “He is the one that has lost the most as well as our children who have lost the father they once knew and who will never be the same; but they’re thriving.”
Sam Goutierrez, the youngest of the bunch, is a junior and is maintaining a 4.0 GPA and their daughter Kourtni now has her Masters in Biomedical Sciences.
“We are so proud that they didn’t let this get them down; instead, it made them stronger. Don’t ever take life for granted because life as you know it can be removed in a heartbeat,” Johnnie Goutierrez said. “We defeated all odds and are grateful for my husband’s life.”

Cailin Trahan of Abbeville, LA and Grayson Dubois were united in marriage on Friday, July 9, 2021, at St. Mary Magdalen Church in Abbeville, Louisiana. Officiating the 6:30 evening ceremony was Fr. Michael Richard and Fr. Seth Lemaire.
Cailin is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Troy Trahan of Abbeville, Louisiana. She is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Parlier of Abbeville, LA and Mr. and Mrs. Terry Trahan and the late Mrs. Terry Frioux of New Iberia, LA.
A 2016 graduate of Vermilion Catholic High School in Abbeville, LA, the bride attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and graduated in December of 2020 with a degree in Early Childhood Education. She is currently employed at Port Allen Elementary.
Grayson is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Dubois of Kaplan, LA. He is the grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. Dudles Dubois of Abbeville, LA and Mrs. Joyce Braquet and the late Mr. Harold Braquet of Kaplan, LA.
A 2017 graduate of Vermilion Catholic High School in Abbeville, LA, Grayson attended the University of Louisiana and graduated in May of 2020 with a degree in Kinesiology concentrated in Exercise Science. He will be attending Physical Therapy School at Fransciscan University.
Escorted by her father, the bride’s dress was an ivory ballgown with quarter length lace sleeves. The lace off the shoulder neckline flowed into the sweetheart shaped bodice. The dress was beaded, with lace appliques throughout the bodice and the skirt. The skirt had a lace trim and a cathedral length train. As a final touch, she wore a fingertip length veil that included a beaded, lace trim similar to the trim of the dress. She also wore an antique gold tiara which was adorned with pearls and crystal beading.
The bride chose to carry a hand tied bouquet consisting of ivory roses and sprays of pink roses.
Attending as Maid of Honor was Hannah Trahan. Bridesmaids included Katie Landry, Paige Laviolette, Kayla Broussard, Camille Robichaux, Rebekah Bourgeois, Hannah Bourgeois, Amy Reggie, Olivia Reggie and Maria Hundley.
They wore a high-neck embroidered chianti colored dress with a tulle skirt while carrying a bouquet similar to the bride.
Attending as flower girls were Amelia Dubois, daughter of Jeremy and Rebecca Dubois, Camille Simon, daughter of Ross and Courtney Simon and Delilah and Wyatte Lemaire, daughters of Joshua and Sarah Lemaire.
Serving as Best Man was Jeremy Dubois. Groomsmen included Justin Perry, Jeremy Cordes, Jacob Jackson, Ryan Boudreaux, Grant Broussard, Alec Broussard, Jace Laviolette, Jackson Dubois and William Simon.
Ushers for the ceremony included Drake Broussard, Joshua Lemaire and Ross Simon.
During the ceremony, an introduction was read by Sarah Lemaire, the first reading by Caroline Broussard and the second reading was read by Courtney Simon. Serving as gift bearers were Rebecca Dubois, Kennedi Simon, and Meredith David.
Music for the ceremony was provided by Organist Tommy Guidry, Vocalist Jennifer Melancon and Violinist Emil Ivanov.
A rehearsal dinner was held by the groom’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Dubois, at the Event center in Erath, on Thursday, July 8.
Following the ceremony, a reception was held at Magdalen Place.
Following a wedding trip to Disney World, the couple plan to reside in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

GONZALES - Former Gov. Edwin W. Edwards, who embodied Louisiana’s populist era in the late 20th century — championing the poor and ushering Black people and women into state government — died just before 7 a.m. Monday at his home in Gonzales.
The cause of death: respiratory problems that had plagued him in recent years, said Leo Honeycutt, his biographer. Friends and family surrounded his bedside.
A Democrat, Edwards dominated the state’s politics for 25 years and even enjoyed a brief and spectacular turn in the national spotlight during the 1991 governor’s race when he faced off against former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke, a Republican.
Edwards won 1,057,031 votes, the most ever in a Louisiana gubernatorial election.
With his bayou charm, razor-sharp mind and quick wit, Edwards personified the state’s “Let the Good Times Roll” motto, proudly proclaimed himself as the first Cajun governor in the 20th century and, by defeating Duke, became the only person elected to lead Louisiana four times and serve 16 years.
“He was extremely intelligent, and he was able to analyze problems and find solutions where other people couldn’t find them,” said former U.S. Sen. John Breaux, who was his assistant when Edwards was in Congress and succeeded him as Louisiana’s 7th House District representative.
“I think he had a very big heart and a good feel for people who were less advantaged than he was.”
His authorized biography became a bestseller in Louisiana.
In 2017, his 90th birthday bash at the Renaissance Hotel in Baton Rouge filled a ballroom with some 500 guests paying $250 per person. Gov. John Bel Edwards, who is not related, and former Gov. Kathleen Blanco were among the attendees.
“I’m 90 years old and I woke up Friday and took my son to preschool,” Edwards told the crowd to uproarious laughter.
Edwards is the fourth former governor to die within the past two years. The others were Kathleen Blanco, Mike Foster and Buddy Roemer.
Throughout his career, Edwards won fervent support from poor White people and Black people — and grudging respect from his political rivals.
“He was the most effective, skilled, wily politician I ever knew,” former Gov. Buddy Roemer once said of Edwards.
Raised during his early years in an unpainted farmhouse in central Louisiana that had neither electricity nor running water, Edwin Washington Edwards was the latter-day heir of the populist era led by the Long brothers — first Huey P. and then Earl — in the years before and after World War II.

Low-key beginnings

In 1954, Edwards got his start in politics when he was elected to the Crowley City Council; he won reelection two more times. In 1964, he defeated an incumbent to win a seat in the state Senate. In 1965, he won a special election to Congress and set his sights on achieving his lifelong goal: being elected governor.
One of 17 Democrats who vied to succeed Gov. John McKeithen, Edwards led the party primary, narrowly defeated then-state Sen. J. Bennett Johnston in the Democratic runoff (both elections were in late 1971) and then defeated David Treen, the Republican candidate, in February 1972.
Edwards was elected governor by forging a coalition of working-class White people — especially Cajuns in his home base — and Black people beginning to flex their electoral muscles.
Over the next four years, he oversaw the passage of a number of highly regarded reforms sought by good-government groups. None were greater than the 1974 constitution, which simplified the operation of government, including allowing local governments to make substantive changes without having to win the Legislature’s approval.
Edwards easily won reelection in 1975. Because of term limits, he had to sit out the 1979 campaign won by Treen, who became the state’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction.
Edwards overwhelmed Treen in 1983 to win a third term but lost his reelection bid in 1987 after the oil bust ruined the state’s economy.
Edwards made a comeback in 1991 to win a fourth and final term, routing Duke in the runoff election. In 1994, Edwards announced he would not seek reelection, just after marrying his second wife, Candy Picou.
In his later years, Edwards would say his greatest political achievements were passage of the 1974 constitution and getting the Legislature to begin taxing oil production based on the market price rather than a flat fee.
When oil prices soared in the 1970s, Edwards had plenty of extra money to spend on new roads, bridges, ports, hospitals and schools.
Like Huey P. Long, Edwards throughout his political career urged the state to take care of the underprivileged.
In 1980, just after stepping down as governor, Edwards served a day as an associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. That led him to comment that he was the only person in the U.S. who had served as governor of his state, as a member of the U.S. Congress and as a member of his state’s highest court.
Treen was no match when Edwards ran against him in 1983.
Voters returned him to the Governor’s Mansion with a 63% to 37% margin. The 1,002,798 votes he received marked the first time a Louisiana governor received more than 1 million votes.
But when Edwards moved back into the Governor’s Mansion in early 1984, oil prices were dropping, and so were state tax revenues. Edwards pushed a $730 million tax increase through the state Legislature, but it did not plug the budget gap, and it antagonized voters.
He faced four strong opponents in 1987. Roemer, then a congressman overtook them all as voters responded to his promise to repudiate the Edwards era and “slay the dragon,” as Roemer put it. He led Edwards in the primary. That night, Edwards conceded the runoff election. It was his first election defeat.
In 1991, Edwards sought to avenge the defeat and ran for governor again. By then, Duke was cleverly tapping into Whites’ racism and anger with the state’s high unemployment rate.
Edwards ran first in the primary, followed by Duke, a Republican state legislator from Metairie who delivered a race-based message against political elites. The runoff election became front-page news across the country because of Duke’s Klan past.
In a debate two weeks before election day, Edwards delivered a powerful closing statement that marked their sharp differences.
“While David Duke was burning crosses and scaring people, I was building hospitals to heal them,” he told a statewide televised audience. “When he was parading around in a Nazi uniform to intimidate our citizens, I was in a National Guard uniform bringing relief to flood and hurricane victims. When he was selling Nazi hate literature as late as 1989 in his legislative office, I was providing free textbooks for the children of this state.”
Edwards trounced Duke with 61% of the vote.
Edwards had won over skeptics — including two former foes, Roemer and Treen.
During the campaign, Edwards pinned revitalizing the state’s economy on the creation of a single land-based casino in New Orleans. It would create 25,000 jobs and generate millions of dollars in tax revenue, he promised.
In 1992, the Legislature legalized the New Orleans casino following a controversial vote in the state House overseen by Speaker John Alario.
In June 1994, Edwards made the surprise announcement that he would not seek a fifth term the following year.
Edwards ran for Congress in 2014. He received 38% of the vote and lost to Garret Graves in a district designed to elect a Republican.
On election night, Edwards climbed onto a raised stage in a hotel meeting room, Eli in his arms, Trina by his side. As he waited for supporters to crowd in, Edwards lightly sang, “The party’s over. It’s time to turn out the lights.”

Edwards was born on Aug. 7, 1927, in Johnson, a community outside of Marksville in Avoyelles Parish. His father, Clarence, a Presbyterian, had only a third-grade education. His mother, Agnes, a Catholic, had left school after seventh grade.
Clarence Edwards eked out a living as a sharecropper, raising chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, cows and sheep. Agnes Brouillette Edwards was a midwife who taught her five children to speak Cajun French. Edwin was the middle child. Although reporters described him as Cajun, who descended from Canada, his mother’s forebears actually were from France.
Young Edwin began his schooling in a one-room schoolhouse where one teacher taught grades one through four. As a teenager, he planned to be a preacher, practically memorized the Bible and preached in Marksville’s Church of the Nazarene.
During the five years of interviews Honeycutt conducted for the biography, he said the former governor described the effect of growing up with so little money: “Poverty will make you bitter or better. You get mad at the world because you’re poor, but you realize that it will take work and education to get what you want. You can’t focus on what you don’t have; you focus on what you want.
“In that sense,” Edwards continued, according to Honeycutt, “poverty is a blessing because life is a problem from the get-go. You learn to problem-solve from the beginning.”
Edwards trained to be a Navy pilot late in World War II, obtained a law degree from LSU and then, in 1949, married his high school sweetheart, Elaine Schwartzenburg.
Edwards and Elaine moved to Crowley, where his sister Audrey lived. He and Elaine had four children: Anna, Stephen, Victoria and David. They all survive him.
Edwards had 12 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren with Elaine Edwards.
Elaine died in 2018. His three brothers and his sister also died before him.
Edwards outlived four of his successors: Treen, Roemer, Blanco and Mike Foster.
Edwards explained his philosophy in a 1983 interview.
“In life, politics and hunting,” he said, “I play by the rules, but I take all the advantages the rules allow.”