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Miss Katherine Meyers of Maurice, LA and Mr. Luke LeBlanc of Indian Bayou, LA were joined in marriage during an evening ceremony held at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Maurice LA, on Saturday, December 26, 2020.
Deacon Joe Hebert officiated the 6 p.m. nuptials.
The bride is the daughter of Kevin and Monica Meyers of Maurice, LA. Grandparents of the bride are Larry and Rena Duhon of Maurice, LA and Lynwood and June Meyers of Abbeville, LA.
She is a 2018 graduate of North Vermilion High School in Maurice, LA and will graduate in May with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a degree in Finance. The bride is currently employed at Our Lady of Lourdes Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
Parents of the groom are Travis and Sheila LeBlanc of Indian Bayou, LA. Grandparents of the groom are Wilbert and Ginger LeBlanc of Kaplan, LA and William and Marie Domingue of Rayne, LA.
He is a 2017 graduate of North Vermilion High School and is currently employed by the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’’s Department.
Music for the ceremony was provided by Jonah Slason, Organist and Vocalist Jonah Saloon.
Escorted by her father, the bride wore a gown designed by Justin Alexander. The classic and elegant inspired long sleeve gown had a fitted bodice leading to a mermaid silhouette. The gown was fitted with a jewel neckline and a beautifully beaded illusion back with covered buttons from the neck to the end of the cathedral length train. Her dress had the perfect finish with a royal length wedding veil accented with a blusher made of soft English tulle.
Claire Meyers served as Maid of Honor and Taylor LaPorte served as Matron of Honor. Bridesmaid for the ceremony was Alaina Camille Guidry, friend of the bride. They wore formal evening gowns by designer Tarik Ediz in an elegant wintry navy. Their gowns were designed with a V neckline and short flowing sleeves. The bodice had a fitted waistline with an asymmetrical peplum leading to a mermaid silhouette.
Attending as flower girl was Kate Karge, cousin of the groom and daughter of Michael and Leigh Karge.
Noah LeBlanc, brother of the groom, served as Best Man. Groomsmen included Ian LeBlanc, brother of the groom, who is currently deployed overseas with the Louisiana National Guard and is serving as best man as well as in their hearts. Zachary LeBlanc, Nathan LeBlanc and Owen LeBlanc, all brothers of the groom, also served as groomsmen.
John Michael Karge and William Karge, cousins of the groom, and sons of Michael and Leigh Karge, served as Ring Bearers.
Ushers for the ceremony included Groomsmen Nathan and Owen LeBlanc.
On December 23, prior to the ceremony, a rehearsal dinner, hosted by the groom’s parents, was held at Riverfront.
Following the ceremony, the reception was held at L’Eglise.
The bride’s cake was an elegant three-tiered white cake with combed icing and fresh flowers. The wedding cake was filled with the delicious southern flavors of raspberry and pecan praline while the groom’s cake was made by the groom’s mother and was a 2- tier chocolate cake accented with a hunting theme.
The couple plan to reside in Maurice, LA.

April 9, 1934 ~ December 22, 2020

KAPLAN — A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church honoring the life of Ted Simon, 86, who died Tuesday, December 22, 2020 at his residence. He will be laid to rest at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Cemetery with Reverend Mark Miley officiating the services.
He is survived by his three sons, Michael Simon and his wife, Vanessa of Dripping Springs, TX, Arne Simon of Kaplan, and Kelly Simon and his wife, Patty of Gonzales; his three daughters, Rachel Miller and her husband, Chip of Maurice, Joan Navarre and her husband, Wade of Lafayette, and Janet Thompson and her husband, Tim of Denham Springs; his two sisters, Ann Vincent of Kaplan and Patricia Richard of Kaplan; 16 grandchildren; and 15 great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Viella Simon; his parents, Dallas Simon and the former Pearl Conner; his sister, Bonnie Broussard; his daughter-in-law, June Simon; and his son-in-law Gary Leblanc.
In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church or to a charity of their choice in the name of Mr. Ted Simon.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Kaplan, (337) 643-7276 [Service Information 225-5276]. Condolences may be sent to the Simon family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.

ABBEVILLE, LA – On December 17, 2020 an Angel of the Lord came to free Warren Troy Plowden from this world’s challenges. Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday, December 26, 2020 at Faith Hope Christian Fellowship. Public visitation will be from 8:30 A.M. to 10:30 A.M. followed by funeral service at 12:00 Noon.
Warren was born on September 30, 1966, to the late Cleveland Plowden, Jr. and Sylvia Andrus Brown in Abbeville, LA. He was baptized in the Name of the Lord, Jesus Christ at an early age at World Wide Church of God.
He loved to sing and played all instruments. Singing was his love, from a young child. He also loved writing music. “Dang-Dang” had the ability to make his own video game, before video games came to be what they are now. When the song “Rapper’s Delight” came out there was a contest on the radio, which he won, and he became part of the group The Sugarhill Gang.
As Warren grew older, he fell in love with the Lord Jesus and His Word, faithfully going to worship and praising God. His love for Christ helped him blossom into a True Man of God.
He leaves to cherish his memory, his daughter, Brittany Plowden of Spokane, WA; his mother, Sylvia Andrus Brown (Peter); sisters: Denise Demouchet, Essie Livings (Mitchell), Erica Small (Allen), Tracey Bessard, Myra Bessard of Abbeville, LA, Dawnette Black (Shawn) of New Iberia, LA and DaKeesha Levine of Baton Rouge, LA; brothers: Min. Garmon K. Plowden (Sheila), Marc S. Plowden (Yolanda), Michael Bessard (Ann), Rodrick Bessard of Abbeville, LA and Yourick Levine of Lafayette, LA; aunts: Christa Belle Andrus (Godmother), Kathleen Wilson, Shirley Bernard, Anne Fusilier, Beverly Butcher (Joseph) and Patricia Plowden; uncles: Frank Andrus, Sr. (Lillian) and Glen Plowden, Sr. (Lucy), a Special Friend, Clarence Levy, Jr. and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
He is preceded in death by his father, Cleveland Plowden, Jr., maternal grandparents: Alfred and Essie Mae Andrus; paternal grandparents: Cleveland Plowden, Sr. and Nona Nolan Plowden; brothers: Cleveland Plowden III and Dwayne Bessard; maternal uncles: Alfred Andrus, Jr., Jessie Andrus, Sr., Daniel Andrus, Sr. (Godfather), Warren Andrus, Sr., Percy Andrus, Sr., and John Lee Andrus; paternal aunts and uncles: Jeffery Plowden, Mamie Grant, Ethaline Hills and Gwendolyn Plowden; niece, Asia Plowden and great-nephew Ahmad C. Broussard.
Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Kinchen Funeral Home of Abbeville, LA –218 North St. Valerie Street. Additionally, condolences to the family may be expressed via its website: www.kinchenfuneralhome.com.

I don’t know why I kept it in the first place, or even how it fell into my hands, but one of the things that I haul out every Christmas season, along with the tree lights and decorations, wreaths for the door, and an old nativity set, is the December 23, 1950, edition of Collier’s magazine.
The covers barely cling to frayed pages and, just like me (I was six years old in 1950), it’s beginning to show its age. But I’ve kept it as a reminder of the simpler Christmases we celebrated when I was a boy, and of things that still are the essence of the season for me.
It was published in a time when Christmas goods didn’t appear on store shelves until after Thanksgiving, the five and dime on Main Street was still the place to shop, Bing Crosby crooned on the radio, and Hollywood had yet to decide that Christmas was the day to lure everyone into theaters to watch things get blown up. Even then some of the magazine’s readers worried about changing things just for the sake of change. A letter to the editor, for example, complained about the “new look in telephone booths.”
The front cover is a traditional scene: Carolers singing in front of a big, decorated tree on a snowy, small-town square. People are bustling by, carrying packages and, just in the upper right-hand corner, a bright star that could be the star of Bethlehem.
In a far cry from this year, one of the first pages is an insurance company ad headlined, “Don’t give a cold a chance.” It urges people to guard against “the chief health hazard of winter.” Right next to it another full-page ad recommended Kleenex, “your best buy in tissues,” if you should catch a cold.
Inside the 15-cent magazine are stories that I’ve read and re-read for many Christmases, most of them about people of short means and long hope and how the miracle of Christmas worked in their lives — a tree decorated in the forest for a family that couldn’t afford one, a grouch who is given the Christmas spirit by a little girl, a little boy trying to stay awake long enough to see Santa. I liked the stories as a boy and still like them today. They are simple stories, simply told: Just as is the important story of Christmas itself.
But, if the old magazine gives an idealized vision of a childlike Christmas in its stories (yes, Virginia, “Yes, Virginia” is there), most of its advertisements are certainly for grown-ups.
The back cover has one of those famous ads featuring a rotund, cherubic Santa downing a Coca Cola. But in the page just before it Miller High Life suggested beer was a better Christmas drink. In fact, two-thirds of the advertising is for cigarettes or booze.
A carton of Fatimas, “best of all long cigarettes,” would surely make the holiday brighter. Santa holds a cigarette well away from his flowing beard as he tells us that Pall Malls are mild and “Guard Against Throat-Scratch.” Another ad suggests you try a Kaywoodie Pipe and “feel at home anywhere.” In an ad designed to appeal to all ages, a toddler proclaims, “My Dad would never smoke anything but Marlboro,” which had no filter then.
A liquor ad asks: “Wouldn’t you rather give (and get) Four Roses?” Calvert Reserve’s ad promises “your own good taste will tell you, it’s smart to give and serve.” Seagram’s Seven “says Merry Christmas in a special way.” Fleischmann’s Preferred was the blended whiskey offering “quality at a winning price.” Corby’s advertised its “Christmas Remembrance Bottle” as the perfect gift for postman, delivery man, service station attendant, and as a great bottle to swap with the milkman. Kentucky Tavern offered a gift package at no extra charge. Harwood’s Canadian proclaimed itself “one gift no one will exchange.”
Having never savored Harwood’s Canadian or smoked a Kaywoodie, I don’t know whether their slogans are true, but I do know that the simple Christmas messages, even in the ads, reverberate with me still.
The old magazine helps bring back the idea of Christmas as viewed through the innocent eyes of a six-year-old, and I like that. One of the enduring pleasures of Christmas is that it is a season when old men can catch the Christmas spirit, can remember and recapture a wee part of those bygone days.
William Saroyan wrote that, when he said “Merry Christmas,” he wanted it “to mean what it means. Not just words under a picture or card, dropped in the mailbox on the corner, or handing you something wrapped up in red paper which I have bought. I want it to say what it says — the way a child says it.”
That goes for me, too, as I wish a Merry Christmas to all.
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.